What One Can Learn
by Jasaiya Hawkins
Summary: Naruto survives a near death injury thanks to Hinata. After he recovers,they leave the village and form their own,making both friends and enemies. NaruHina,good kyuubi,set after both have finally become chuunins.
1. Within the Mind

Naruto was just floating. Floating amongst nothingness, no sound, no light, no smell, nothing. He got the feeling that he should be in pain. But he felt nothing, nothing except the urge to just float there and do nothing, think nothing. But he felt the urge to at least wonder what had led to him being here.

"That's easy, kit." A voice said, approaching him. "Watch." The mysterious voice ordered. A bubble appeared above Naruto.

_"Naruto, watch out!" Hinata ordered from the bubble. The Naruto in the bubble with Hinata broke off from who she was fighting with and rammed into Naruto, knocking both into the ground. As they hit the ground, a sword came flying through the space Naruto had just occupied. _

_Naruto grunted in pain, as Hinata was on top of him, putting pressure on several injuries, mostly stab and slash wounds. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She said, rolling off of him. "We need to retreat. If we continue, we'll be killed."_

_"Where do you think we could go?" He asked. "Our escape routes have been cut off. Before we lost radio contact, Kakashi-sensei told us that help was on its way. We have to hold out until then."_

_"But we won't last much longer. Who knows how far they are?" Hinata protested, assuming a defensive position over severely wounded comrade. _

_"We'll just have to do our best." He said as her sensitive ears picked up a whistling sound coming towards them. Looking behind, he saw two katana's flying straight towards Hinata. They were in her only blind spot. "Watch out!" He yelled as he pushed her out of the way, light enveloping his senses, leading him to this place._

"See, you were severely wounded on a mission. Help arrived in time to take care of your enemies. But you're dying. Tsunade herself came, and she's doing her best to save you. But she can't repair the damage your soul took, from almost dying then suddenly being pulled back to life."

"Who are you? Why do I get the sense that I know?" Naruto asked softly. The voice chuckled and he heard footsteps coming towards him. He turned his head to see a woman approaching. She had silver hair and brown, almost red eyes. She wore a tight, form-fitting kimono. But that didn't hide her fox ears or long, fluffy fox tail, both of which were red. "I do know you from somewhere." He said as his eyes closed drowsily.

The woman yanked him to his feet. "Stay with me! I can give you strength for now, but we need to repair the damage to your soul NOW or you really will die!" He opened his eyes as strength flowed into him and he stood under his own power.

"You mean, there's still a chance I can live?" He asked. The woman nodded. "You still haven't answered my other question. Who are you?"

"I," the woman answered, "am someone who has been with you since the first day of your life. Though the villagers would call me the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"I see. What do we need to do save my soul?" Naruto asked.

"We must explore your memories. Once we find where the damage has been done, we may be able to fix it. But this is a long shot. It may not work." The kyuubi answered.

"As long as there is a chance, I'll do it. There have been plenty of times where the chances of success seemed small and we still beat it." The fox woman held out a hand. Naruto took it and a whirlwind surrounded them and he felt himself lift off again. "But why did you attack the village?"

"It was because of one Madara Uchiha. With his unlocked Mangekyou Sharingan, he discovered he had the ability to control us demons. Well, it somehow ended up making me lose control when he used it on me." Kyuubi answered.

"I see. So you aren't really a bad person then?" The kyuubi shook her head no.

"All I wanted was to be left alone in my mountain. Madara, though, couldn't accept that. He forced me to fight, which ended is his death and my still raging out of control. I somehow remembered in that state where he was from, and must have thought that they would come after me. So I went to them first." Kyuubi said sadly. "I still regret that. Even more, I regret how your own fellow villager's treated you, which was tied to my previous behavior."

"But that wasn't your fault. Maybe, we can both get something from this today. I think that maybe you need some healing too." Naruto said comfortingly. The Kyuubi didn't answer.

"We're at our first stop." She said, the whirlwind vanishing from around him. "And from now on, call me Kitsune. It's easier.'' Naruto nodded and looked around. He was near his apartment. "There." Kitsune pointed to the shadowy area near a corner. It was also dark too.

"Is that…me?" Naruto asked, faintly seeing a small shape in the darkness. Naruto remembered this day. He had been around five at the time. He had just wanted to go play in the park when the villagers had surrounded him. Fighting back the bitter memories, he watched it all over again.

_"Where do you think you're going, you little demon brat?" One questioned angrily, shoving him onto the ground._

_"I'm just going to the park to play." He answered. He always played at night, when the other kids weren't around. That way none of the parents would try to get him arrested for 'trying to kill their kids'._

_"And how do you know our kids aren't there? You trying to kill them again?!" An angry mother demanded, holding an infant close to her chest. The mother tried to calm the fussy child, who wouldn't stop crying._

_"I never tried to kill them." He said for the millionth time. "Why does everyone in this town think I'm some kind of murderer? I have never hurt anyone." He said defensively. One of the men in the group smacked him hard after pulling him to his feet. He went back against the wall and onto the ground hard._

_"If we ever catch you near our kids, you'll regret it." The mother threatened as they all walked away. He stayed still until they were gone. When he was sure they were gone, he got up, wiping away tears._

_He ran to the park, ignoring the pain in his knees and hands, ignoring the blood from the scrapes he had received from hitting the ground so hard. He ran all the way to the park, where he took refuge under his favorite slide, sobbing quietly._

"After that,…Hinata found me." He remembered. "She wondered why I was crying, not even knowing who I was. She treated my injuries, and was actually really nice to me. It took me a little while to trust her. But she was my first friend that was my own age." He smiled, letting the warmth of this memory cheer him up. "But why did I forget?"

"It's human nature to not remember their really young years." Kitsune answered gravely. "This memory has come from two sources: your subconscious, which all your memories are kept, even if you don't remember them consciously, and my memory. As I can't sleep, and don't need to, I watched everything that ever happened to you."

Kitsune held out her hand again. Naruto took it and they were on their way to another memory. "Why are going to all these memories?" He asked.

"You think that no one will miss you if you die. But because of the forgetful nature of human beings, you forgot a lot of the kindness that was shown you when you were younger. If you remember these, there's a chance that you'll live." Kitsune answered, the whirlwind dissipating as they stopped in another memory.

_Naruto skulked in the corner of the classroom, where none of the other students could see him. Many of the villager's had lodged a formal protest to stop him from entering the academy. But the Hokage, the only adult he could trust had stopped it. He remembered overhearing the lecture that Sarutobi had given them._

_"You people are wrong!" Sarutobi had thundered. "Naruto is not the demon. Yes, the demon is in him. But he's helpless while inside the boy. You haven't been mistreating the demon. You've been punishing an innocent boy for crimes he did not commit! I am tired of people mistreating him and blaming him for something he did not do. In fact, if anyone ever hurts Naruto Uzamaki again, they'll be hearing from and facing criminal charges!"_

_"But he's a demon!" An angry woman said. She was silenced by Sarutobi's furious scowl._

_"He is not a demon. He's a human just like the rest of us!" Sarutobi had thundered._

_"No, he's a demon! Give him the chance and he'll kill us all. What can you accuse of anyway?"_

_"Simple." The Hokage had stated. "Child abuse, falsely accusing someone of a crime on purpose, disturbing the peace, and inhumane treatment against a fellow human being. This will be a law by tomorrow. Now if Naruto ever comes to me with a complaint like this again, you'll all be arrested. And all of these crimes are good for at least five to ten years in prison."_

"After that, the beating's stopped." And even though they still clearly hated and constantly gave him dirty looks, they never again barred him from any establishment's or laid even a finger on him. Kitsune smiled at Naruto's serene face. "Though Hinata and I always were friends. She's always been there for me."

"And…" Kitsune prompted. Naruto remembered her strange behavior shortly after academy started. She always blushed and stammered, often passing out, around him.

"Are you saying that she likes me? As in like like, that kind of like?" Naruto asked incredulously. Kitsune nodded.

"Yes, that's exactly what she's been saying with her body language for years now. You've just been so focused on your own path that you've shut out everything else. And you didn't notice your growing feelings for her, which really started after you and she passed the chuunin exam." Kitsune scolded.

Naruto suddenly warmed up. Strange, he had never noticed the cold before. But he apparently had been cold. "I need to live. And once I can speak again to her in person, I'll apologize for being so dense. I'll also…sum up the courage to tell her how I feel." He stammered himself now. "Wait, what are those voices?" He asked, referring to the phantom voices he was hearing.

_"Hinata, keep talking to him! It may help him stay with us!"_

"Tsunade?" Naruto asked. Kitsune nodded.

_"Naruto, stay with us! Please, don't leave me. Naruto, if you die, I'll go back to the way I was, weak and unsure of myself. Naruto, don't leave us!"_

"Hinata?!" He asked. Another bubble appeared and he saw Tsunade sitting next to him, her hands glowing green with healing chakra. Hinata was on his other side, holding his hand, which was covered in sweat and blood, some his enemies and a lot of it his. Hinata was also crying. "Hinata, wait for me! I'll come back, I'll come back for everyone, but especially for you! I just need you to be patient!"

_"Hinata, it's working. I don't know if it's you or me, but his chances of surviving just improved. We'll both continue what we are doing." Tsunade ordered._

_"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Hinata said strongly, tightening her grip._

"I feel it here." He said, examining his hand, where he could feel heat and pressure on it. He stopped hearing Hinata's voice. "What does that mean?" He asked with concern, subconsciously closing his hand where he felt the warmth and pressure.

_"Tsunade-sama, he just tightened his grip on my hand!" Hinata's voice suddenly cried out. It was laced with hope._

"It means, kit," Kitsune said sternly, "that you're closer to the original goal, but still have work to do. Come on. But keep positive." She grabbed his other hand, leaving that one free for Hinata, despite the fact that she wasn't there with them. The whirlwind surrounded them again and they were off, Naruto still clinging to Hinata's phantom hand

"Kitsune, what'll happen when I wake up? Will I never be able to talk to you again?" Naruto asked sadly.

Kitsune smiled. "No, now that we're both aware of the connection, we'll be able to talk to each other and get to know each other. Every now and then, when you're lucky, I'll bring your soul to where mine is." Naruto smiled. "And believe it or not, as most people think, I'm not angry about my imprisonment. It's not only just punishment, but it's actually kind of peaceful around here."

"That's good to hear." Naruto stated as they landed again. He was near his apartment again, but it was a recent memory. He saw Hinata coming to his apartment with some food. She was wearing clothes she had gotten after the chuunin exam. "She won't be able to hear or see me, right?" He asked. Kitsune nodded. Grinning like a fox, he chased after her, following her up the stairs.

_Hinata knocked on Naruto's door nervously. He opened the door. "Hinata! How can I help you tonight?" He asked with a grin._

_"I was wondering what you eat for dinner." She said clearly, having stopped her stammering and stuttering months ago._

_"What I eat for my other meals of course. Ramen." He answered indifferently. "In fact, I was just about to make some. Would you like a cup of ramen?"_

_"Actually," Hinata began, "I was wondering if you wanted to eat something different. I brought the stuff and want to cook for you tonight."_

_"Hinata, you don't have to do that." Naruto told her. "Ramen is just fine, so don't go through all that trouble for me." Hinata shook her head. _

_"It's no trouble. I want to. So will you let me? I won't if you don't want to let me."_

_"If you really want to." He said, allowing her to enter his apartment. "Sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting company." _

_"Oh, that's fine." She said, walking in. "My room is also kinda messy at the moment."_

"But that mess had been really bad. So bad she was back the next day with cleaning supplies and making me help her clean." Naruto remembered. He laughed.

"Though after that, you always kept the place clean. Because she would come over at least twice a week to eat with you. You also started buying food other than instant ramen. So that she would not have to bring over the food each time." Kitsune added, a glint in her eyes.

"If there's anyone I would live for, it's that girl." He intoned sadly. "I wouldn't want to make her cry. In fact, I would fight my way back from death and come back to life, just to see her smile again." He said, now happily, remembering when she had started to truly smile around him. It had made her look so beautiful. "And now, I'll do what it takes to go back to her, even if only for a little while."

"Wouldn't she still be sad if you died though?" Kitsune asked.

"I would tell her not to be sad, as my final wish for her. Knowing her, she would not mope long." He explained with a grin. Kitsune smiled and the memory started to fade away, something that hadn't happened yet. "What's happening?!" He asked.

"You now have completed the task necessary for you to survive. You'll be waking up soon. I won't leave you though. I'll always be here should you need me." Kitsune said as she walked away.

"Kitsune! Wait!" He yelled as a bright white light consumed him, tinted with light green, lavender, and even some tannish brown.

He found himself in the same void as before, but this time, it was white, not black, tinted with many, many colors. "Because I saw only the darkness in my life, not the light. I never opened my eyes to see it, even though it was so bright it was almost blinding." He said with a laugh. "I was such a fool."

He heard voices calling out to him and he tried to go to them. But there was no gravity here, and he was having a very hard time in a zero-g environment. And when he couldn't reach them, they came to him. "Naruto!" The two people called in unison.

Naruto recognized the voices. "Hinata? Gaara?" He called as they came into his range of vision. They smiled as they each took one of his hands. For a moment he saw them as they were when they were children and they saw him as he was when he was a child. "Are you here to take me home?" Hinata nodded, crying tears of happiness.

"Yes. Are you ready?" Gaara asked. He nodded and the light consumed him once again.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. An annoying repetitive beeping sound made him wake up. He was in a hospital. The annoying beeping must be the heart monitor. Naruto felt something over his mouth and nose, as well as a needle going into his veins. His chest, neck, arms were heavily bandaged as well, he could tell, as he was very familiar with the feel of bandages. He turned his head slightly to his right.

Hinata had fallen asleep waiting for him to wake up. Her head was on one arm, long black hair splayed around her. Her other arm was away from her body, her hand holding Naruto's. So I'm alive. He noted duly, uncomfortable in the all white room. He noticed the large vase of multicolored flowers and smiled to himself, squeezing Hinata's hand tightly, afraid of slipping back into death.

This woke her up and she sat up half asleep. Her eyes tried to find what had woke her up and she saw Naruto's eyes open. "Naruto, you're finally awake!" She half whispered. "Wait here, I'm going to get the doctor. I'll be right back." She promised, gently loosing his hand from hers.

The doctor quickly said he needed more rest. Gaara walked into the room after the doctor left. "So you're alive?" Gaara asked. He nodded, already exhausted. "We would take off the oxygen mask, but you punctured a lung in the fight." Naruto quietly fell back asleep as Gaara spoke, smiling as he did so.


	2. Hey, wanna know something?

So, this story is back by popular demand. Ya know, I had a feeling people would want it full length. So, on with the next chapter!

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Give me one sec." Hinata said, gently lifting Naruto's head up and removing the oxygen mask. His lung had healed enough to enable him to breathe without it. "Now, sit up for a little while." Hinata helped Naruto sit up. Tsunade had taken Naruto to the closest place for treatment because of serious his injuries had been. And that place was Suna, which was why Gaara was there when he had woken up for the first time.

"Thanks." He said weakly. His voice was a little weak due to a week of not talking. "Ah, this feels better." Hinata smiled.

"So, we ended up in Suna huh?" He asked, finally voicing the questions he had been bursting to ask but had been unable to because of that mask.

"Yes." Hinata told him. "This was the closest place. You and I will go back to Konoha when you're ready to travel. Tsunade-sama, though, has gone back to Konoha to report the situation. She told me to tell you to expect further hospitalization when you get back. Suna will provide an escort team to see us safely there, since you won't be able to fight."

"I'm sorry I worried you." Naruto apologized softly. "That was not my intention." Hinata shook her head at this.

"I know you didn't do it on purpose." She said with a smile. "Naruto, I'm just glad you'll be fine." She fidgeted in her seat.

"Is something up?" He asked. "It looks like you have something on your mind."

She nodded. "I've been wanting to tell you something. When you were...injured, I didn't think I would be able to tell you. See, the truth is I like you!" She exclaimed, mentally preparing for a emotional blow. "I've liked you for a long time. But you never noticed, or else didn't even care, which wouldn't be like you."

"Hinata, I also have something to tell you. And please don't tell anyone else. At least, not yet." Naruto confessed. "You saw me in the academy. Many people called me untalented. You see, that's not true. Many people hate me in the village still. So I played the part of a dunce, to convince them that I was not a threat. I actually understood our lesson's perfectly, purposely screwing up in class. But I'm actually a lot stronger than I let on."

"Why?" Hinata asked simply, shocked that Naruto would feel the need to do something like this.

"They hate me. They thought I was just a nuisance as a stupid kid. If they knew that I held back on purpose, or that I was a lot more to me than they were willing to see, they would have made my life even worse." Naruto answered.

"But why do they hate you?" She asked, confusion flickering in her eyes.

"Remember the lessons about the demons we had in academy?" He asked. Hinata nodded. "And you remember learning about theman who stopped the nine tailed fox demon seventeen years ago?" Again, Hinata nodded. "That man was my father. Unable to kill the demon, he sealed it into his only son, unable to ask someone to make a sacrifice he was unwilling to make himself. If they knew I know my heritage, it'd be bad."

"They hate you for something that wasn't even your fault?" Hinata inquired.

Naruto nodded. "Life in that village was so hard for me. But I finally remembered where and when we first met. After that, life became so much easier. But your father stopped our activities together, which is why we forgot our earlier friendship. Also, my life took a turn for the worse again." Realization dawned on Hinata's face.

"In the park?" She asked breathless. Naruto nodded. "You..were injured! I heard you crying and wanted to know who and why. So I approached you to see if I could help. It took weeks for you to fully trust me. And when you finally did, we became good friends. Now I remember. My father didn't like it, not one bit. After that, he made sure we never saw each other again."

Naruto smiled. "But he couldn't stop us at academy though. You instantly recognized me, even if it was only subconsciously. Back then, when I was five, you saw me first for who I was, not what I had in me. And even years later, you still saw me as me. But I didn't recognize you, so jaded by hurt and mistrust, even if I hid it very well. I'm sorry." He said. "Even after all these years, I only want one thing. Well, two things."

"And what are those?" Hinata asked, her voice trembling, so happy that Naruto had started to confide in her at last.

"I realized one of them only while unconscious. I was trapped within my mind, guided by someone who had actually always tried to be there for me." He paused for breathe. "One, which I was always aware of, was to be acknowledged. That's why I was a prankster early on. For someone to notice me. And two, and this I just realized, was to tell you my true feelings concerning you." Hinata gasped. "I always liked you. I just didn't know how to put when we were younger."

"And when you got older, you buried that feeling deep inside of you." Hinata finished. Naruto nodded. "Maybe I can help you there." Hinata answered softly, gently taking his hand. "I hereby acknowledge you. For your bravery and strength, both in ninja and personal matters, for encouraging me, even when you thought I was only a strange girl."

Naruto felt his eyes tear up. He had wanted to hear those words, true and heartfelt, from anyone his entire life. Hinata handed him a tissue. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone you cried." Hinata promised with a smile that reached her eyes. "And should you choose to tell anyone who you really are, I'll stand by you."

Naruto yawned. Hinata quickly helped him lay back down. "Hinata, if I have someone to help me, I think I will." He yawned again. "Before I fall asleep again, will you be my girlfriend? As soon as I can, I'll take you on a date." He promised.

"I would be honored to, Naruto. Now get some sleep." Hinata ordered. Naruto smiled a small smile and closed his eyes. "And I'll hold you to that date. So you'd better not be lying to me." Naruto shook his head. "Good. I'm in need of sleep myself. So I'll see you when I come by again." Naruto had already fallen asleep. She covered the rest of his body up and left the room, heading to the room that she had been given.

As she lay down in her bed, she couldn't sleep despite the fact that she knew she needed to get some sleep. _I am officially dating him! _She told herself excitedly, rolling over on her stomach. _I won't let anyone else hurt him. Hmm, my father won't be happy to hear this. But right now, I don't care. I'll deal with him later. Hopefully it just wasn't the pain medication speaking though. _She thought as she fell asleep.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Four day later, Naruto was well enough to travel. Hinata now knew it had not been the pain medication speaking the night she had been asked out by Naruto, something she was very happy to know. Gaara and his siblings were the ones who were going to escort them home. Gaara had personally taken this mission, even going as far as to get a riding animal for Naruto to ride on. "I don't think you're in the need of physical exertion." He had explained, helping him up onto the riding animal. "Hinata, would you be willing to lead it while you walk?"

"Of course." Hinata said, taking the reigns from Gaara. "Naruto, you'll have to deal with my father once he finds out. He won't be happy to hear what we'll have to say soon. I'd wait until after you recovered for him to find out."

Naruto held back his laugh, as it still hurt him to laugh. "Right. I have to agree with you on this one." He was going to explain Kitsune's situation to Hinata while in Konoha.

"Right." Temari said. "We need to get moving." She and her siblings surrounded Hinata and Naruto. "On to Konoha."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Tsunade had Shizune waiting at the front gate by the time they arrived in Konoha. Kankuro and Gaara helped Naruto down and took their leave, along with Temari. "Alright, Naruto, to the hospital with you. Hinata, would you help me?" Shizune ordered.

"Of course." Naruto made to the hospital supported by Shizune and Hinata. Several of the people seeing this grinned and mentally made plans to attack him while he slept. "I'll come by and see you tomorrow." She promised. "I won't tell my father until we're both ready." She said.

"Please and thank you. I value my life. And considering how close I came to death just recently, I don't want to risk it again soon." He said, only supported by Shizune now. They walked into the hospital, where an orderly walked up with a wheelchair. Naruto was helped into it and he was taken to a prepared room, where he changed into a hospital gown by himself, no matter how it hurt to move. He settled in for the night, sighing at the fact that he was stuck yet again in a hospital.


	3. We Need to Talk

Naruto had finally fallen asleep at last for the night. But instead of dreaming, he found himself in his mindscape again.

_"Hello, kit. How are you doing?" Kitsune asked from a comfy chair. Naruto himself was lying on a huge, fluffy bed. In fact, he was in a large room. _

_"In real life, still hurting. Here though," he said, experimenting with a small stretch, "my injuries don't seem to be affecting me. Still, I just want to leave the hospital."_

_"That's understandable." Kitsune replied. " After all, how many times have you been in the hospital? And not just for missions either. Though, by far, your current injuries are the worst you ever had. It's actually kind of good that I'm here. Otherwise punctured lungw would take months to heal, if you don't die in the first few days, and even still some die when they have had the injury for weeks and are expected to survive."_

_"Ouch." Naruto stated quickly with a grimace on his face. "I don't want to be stuck in the hospital for that long." Kitsune smiled at the thought. _

_"Oops, Kit. Hinata is here. She has flowers. Would you like to wake up and talk to her? We can always talk." Kitsune stated._

_"Sure, Kitsune. By the way, thank you for saving my life. This time, and many times before that." Naruto said as he felt himself start to wake up._

Naruto once again felt his injuries as he opened his eyes. "Naruto!" Hinata said. "How did you know I was here? I was going to let you sleep."

"Kitsune told me." Naruto explained. "And this place is boring and depressing. I need someone to lighten the place up, even though it may only be my room." Hinata blushed heavily at this. "How have you been?"

"Fine, now that I know you're ok. Seeing you hooked up on that heart monitor and oxygen system was kinda scary. Because of blood loss, you were so pale. You looked dead." Hinata said with a shudder. "I never want to see that sight again."

"If I can help it, you won't. I really don't like hospitals." Naruto promised. Another thought flickered through his mind, and he heard Kitsune laugh at this one. "Whenever I get out of here, I need some real food." He indicated his IV. "They're feeding me through this, not letting me have real food, saying something to the effect they'll let me have real food when I can move without pain, and that my internal organs are still recovering from the fight, as well as stress put on them, that my body can't handle that kind of food yet."

Hinata smiled. "When you get out, I'll come to your apartment and cook for you. Consider it my present for your recovery."

"That would be nice." Naruto agreed. "That is, if you don't mind. Either way, ever since you first came and started eating with me, I've kept the pantries well stocked and the place clean. Though it might be a bit dusty. I haven't really done stuff like that for awhile."

"Oh, I'll deal with it. It's not exactly as if you had a choice." Hinata said lightly. "I'll bring some things to dust if you'd like. I don't think you'd want to sneeze with your lung still recovering from such such a severe injury."

"That doesn't sound like much fun." Naruto agreed. "Man, that place must be such a mess by now."

"If you can give me the key, I can go clean it." Hinata suggested. "That way, you'll recover faster since your house will be cleaner, no germs or viruses."

"If you really want to." Naruto said. "I can easily do when I feel up to it, which should be soon, thanks to Kitsune."

"No, I don't have a problem with it. It keeps me out of my house too. I really don't like it there." Hinata said. Naruto looked disturbed at the fact that she was unhappy. Hinata noticed this. "Don't you get worked up." She ordered sternly. "That can set your recovery back so much, even with someone helping you heal much faster than the normal person."

**She considers me a person. **Kitsune said. **That's unusual. I must say she's different.**

_"That's Hinata for you." _Naruto answered. _"She's just the way she is."_

**I fully approve of her. **Kitsune told Naruto. **Keep an eye on her. Many people would love to steal her from you.**

_"Like I'll let that happen!" _Naruto mentally exclaimed. _"Besides, no one else can truly see her as she is a person. They only see her as either the Hyuuga Family Heir, who's also a 'failure' or her as a Hyuuga, and making them wonder what they can get from her. Remember the politics of this village."_

"Uhm, Naruto?" Hinata asked. Naruto asked.

"Sorry. Kitsune was saying something to me." Naruto apologized. "If you look in my bag, which is under the bed, you'll find my house key if you still want to clean my place. Remember I can do it easily too once I get discharged."

"No need." Hinata said, digging around in the bag and fishing out a small silver key on a key chain. "That's less you have to do when you get back and that'll let you focus on your own recuperation. And while I'm there, I'll also drop off your stuff if you'd like."

"If you don't mind." He said. "I can easily do this myself."

"I don't mind." Hinata answered, closing the bag and shouldering it. "After all, we're 'friends', right?" She asked, grinning.

"Right. 'Friends' do this kind of stuff for each other." Naruto answered. Both of them were trying to hide any sign of showing that they were dating. Naruto grinned now as well.

"Well, I'll get going now. I'll come see you again soon if I can." Hinata said. "When you come home, your apartment will be spic and span."

"Thanks again." Naruto called out as she left.

**You're smiling. **Kitsune said, making Naruto shrug.

_I'm happy. Don't people smile when they're happy? _Naruto asked. _I don't like how unhappy she is. She admitted herself. I bet you it's all her father's fault. He's the source of all her unhappiness. But I don't know what I can do. Given my position here,..._

**I have an idea. **Kitsune said. Naruto had a sinking feeling at these words, as he could sense the fox inside him start smiling. **Leave and take Hinata with you. Found a village where people can be themselves. And make it known. Make it all known. With your brains and talent, which you could use to unlock that in Hinata as well as her true confidence, you two could have the power to change this world. **

_You're right. _Naruto admitted. _There must be plenty of people who feel the same as us. If we could find them, we would have that power. _He was grinning himself now. _We have plans to make. But if Hinata is not willing to come, then I'm staying here. I will not leave her behind._

_.-.-.-.-.-.-.-._

Hiashi Hyuuga was mad to say the least. Hinata had barely stayed home for five minutes each day. After a few days of this, he had gotten curious and sent someone to follow her. He wanted to know where she was spending her time. And the report he had just recieved did not make him happy.

For the past few days, ever since the demon brat had returned from his mission and had been hospitalized, Hinata had been been spending most of her time at the hospital in _his _room. Apparently, she even had her going to his apartment to drop off his stuff and clean the place as well. He remembered after she had become a chuunin. For two evenings a week after that, she skipped dinner with the rest of the Main Branch Family. He realized that she must have gone to the demon brat's apartment. She had never come home hungry too. In fact, she had seemed really happy, when the rest of the time she was depressed.

_He must have had her since then! _He realized with a shock. _My daughter has been brainwashed! I won't let this go any further. Even she is worthless as an heir to the clan, she's still a member of this clan. For appearance's sake, I can't let this go on._

He finally got his chance to do something about it the day she came home after the demon brat had been discharged from the hospital. Hinata had gone to his apartment for the last time. As she walked into the gate smiling, he appeared out of nowhere. After her heartbeat returned to normal, she turned to face him, she was met by an angry clan head. "Father, what's wrong?" She asked, scared.

He grabbed her wrist, keeping it in a iron-like grip. "You and I have some business to discuss, daughter. And it has to do with a certain demon brat by the name of Naruto Uzamaki."

Chat Zone!

Jasaiya: Yay! I'll say this again. I love these.

Hinata: -crying and holding her wrist tenderly- What are you trying to do to me and Naruto?!

Naruto: -glares- I knew it. You hate not only me, but Hinata as well now.

Jasaiya: I have a plan. You just need to trust me.

Naruto: -scoffs- Trust you? You? I do not think so.

Kitsune: Be quiet, kit. We should trust her. After all, she says she has a plan.

(Jasaiya and Kitsune start conspiring)

Naruto: -can't know what Kitsune is thinking- Argg! I can't tell what she's thinking!!

Jasaiya and Kitsune: -both grinning evilly- You'll have to wait and see! -insert evil laugh here-


	4. Into a New Life

Naruto had barely been home for the afternoon, as he had just been discharged from the hospital at last. Tsunade had wanted to keep him longer, but he had no traces of of any injuries left. Despite the fact that he had punctured a lung and recovered in record time, as he did with all his injuries, there was no scars or anything. Tsunade and Shizune also continued to underestimate his healing abilities.

"That's the cost of acting like an idiot when you're really as smart as Shikamaru." Naruto told himself sternly, getting a soda out of his fridge with a sigh. "Gah, I'm hungry. I'll just get a light snack until Hinata comes. If she found out I ate without her when she said she would cook for me, she would get depressed again. And now that we finally understand our true feelings for each other, I don't want to chance losing it."

He moved to the living room and plopped down on the couch, popping his soda open and placing it on the floor next to the couch. He had considered buying an end table, but had decided against it. He had survived without one so far. He was also saving the money for something important. And until now, he had no idea what that would be. "If we do what you suggest, Kitsune, we'll need all the money we can get."

**Don't you think this is odd? **Kitsune asked. **When Hinata says she'll do something, she means it. And she's way later than she usually is. Eat something now and we'll see if we can find her afterwards. Something isn't right.**

"Right." He went to his kitchen and ate a sandwich quickly. "Let's go searching for her." He said, putting his shoes on and grabbing a jacket. He trusted Kitsune's instincts. If she said something wasn't right, then something must be up. But despite of combing all of Konoha until almost eleven o'clock, no one had seen her. The only clue they had was someone had seen her enter her clan's house and she had never left after that.

**Need I remind you it's not a good idea to appear anywhere near there? **Kitsune said, knowing that Naruto was about to suggest going there to see what was up. **It would only make things worse if you did so. Maybe she'll show up tomorrow and explain herself.**

"You're right." Naruto agreed grudgingly, leaning against the wall of his apartment complex. People stared at him as they saw him to seemingly himself. He ignored this. "Man, I'm tired. my energy hasn't caught up to my body."

**Then go to your apartment and get some rest. I don't need sleep, and I can keep watch as you sleep. **Kitsune ordered. **Hinata would not want you to push yourself. **Naruto trudged up the metal stairs leading to the second floor of apartments. Unlocking his apartment, he wearily walked into his bedroom and changed into some boxers and a white t-shirt.

"Night, Kitsune." Naruto said sleepily, his eyes closing already despite if how worried he was about Hinata. It seemed like only minutes later that he was woken by Kitsune. But her voice sounded different somehow. "Kitsune?" He asked sleepily.

**Look down. **She said and Naruto saw a furry silver and red fox on the floor next to his bed. He gawked. **Don't gawk! It's not polite. This is the next step your father planned.**

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" He asked, confusion replacing the sleepiness.

**Your father knew that one day you and I would come to the understanding we have now. When that would happen, I'd take a new form, this. We are still bound together, as "demon" and host, but I am free of your body. Instead of living inside of you as uninvited tenant, this was to happen, instead as your "familiar" I guess you could say. **

"Really?" Naruto asked. The fox next to his bed, which was slightly larger than a normal fox, nodded. "Well, you must like that."

Again, Kitsune nodded. **Also, I can assume human form when needed, as well become invisible when that is required of us.**Kitsune's ears perked up. **Someone is at your window. I think the person may be crying as well.**

Naruto ran to his bedroom window and opened it slowly, catching Hinata as she fell. "Hinata?!" He asked, clearly even more confused than he had before. "What's wrong?" He asked carrying her to the bed and sitting her down on it. He noticed her wrist, which was purple and swollen.

"It was my father." She explained. "He found out about us. He dragged me into the house by force and told me that I was not to associate with you anymore. Furthermore, he's told me he's picked out my husband, a strict, and sometimes abusive member of the Main Family. I don't want to marry him! I want to be with you. I am going to leave there. I don't care what happens after that. Anything is better than that." He took off her backpack and she didn't fight him.

"Wait here." He said. She nodded. He returned with some ice in a plastic Ziploc bag, wrapped in a towel. He held it to her wrist gently. She took it and did it herself. "You can stay here as long as you need." He promised. "Or you could do something with me."

"What?" She asked with a yawn.

"Kitsune and I want to leave the village and form a new one, where people are accepted for who they are. I wanted you to join me in this, but was unsure of how you would react. But if you don't want to, I'm staying with you, going where you go." Hinata looked up.

"We could leave here?" She asked. Naruto nodded. Kitsune jumped into her lap and curled up, tickling Hinata's chin as she brought her furry tail as she did. This made her laugh. "I would like that." She said with a sad, small smile. "When can we leave? We don't want to alert them to our plans. And when did you get a pet fox?" Kitsune looked up at Hinata slyly.

"That is Kitsune." Naruto replied. "Somehow she has this body, free to move around, but still bound to me. The easiest way to put it is that she's my familiar now." He smiled and wiped her tears away. "As for leaving, we can be gone tonight. Is that all your stuff?"

Hinata shook her head no. "I packed lightly." She answered.

"I'm going to get the rest of your stuff and then pack my own. I have a special way of doing it. Wait here. Kitsune and I will be right back." He promised.

**Wait. **Kitsune said. She blew on Hinata quickly. **If people come here looking for her here, they won't see her. She's invisible to all but you and I. Tell her this.**

Naruto passed on the message. As he was about to leave, after pulling on some decent clothes at least, Hinata stopped him. "Is there anyway I can help?" She asked.

"You could get my things together. I only need the clothes, books, and scrolls, as well as my picture of team 7. Can you do that?" He asked. Hinata nodded and began at once. True to his word, Naruto returned shortly, a bag of stuff over his shoulder.

"Go through this and put aside what you want to bring with you. It might be a good idea to change into some different clothes too. I'll be sealing my stuff into a scroll." He said. "There's the bathroom." He explained, pointing to a closed door. He went around the small apartment and opened several secret storage places, pulling many more scrolls out.

"Did you say sealing? That's an advanced skill." Hinata mentioned, now finished going through her stuff, pushing most of it off to the side.

"Yeah, remember I said I played the part of a dunce to not make people feel threatened by me?" He laughed. "I secretly learned many new skills behind the other's backs. I can teach you how too. It's not hard." He said, tucking a few scrolls into his small bag. "See, it let's me seal all my important items in such a small place."

"That's amazing. Do you think you could tell me all your _true _abilities once we are out of Konoha?" Hinata asked, feeling strangely happier than she had in a long time.

"Yeah, I promise. Is that all you want to bring with you?" He asked. Hinata nodded. "For now, I'll seal it all myself. Once you know how yourself, I'll bring it out so you can do it yourself." He said, handing her the finished products. It only took two scrolls, and that was including most of the stuff in the backpack as well.

"I'll go change really quick. I'll let you change in here." She said, having kept a set of clothes out, and rushing into the bathroom. She came back out when Naruto had said he was done.

"Wow." Naruto said in awe. She had pulled on some black capri pants with a light purple shirt and black jacket. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun.

"Thanks. It'll make people think twice on if they've seen me or not. Though I'll change into something more flattering when we get safely away from Konoha. You also look good." She added, all trace of sadness gone, replaced by determination.

"You look good in anything. It's your personality as well as your body and clothes." Naruto informed the blushing girl before him. Naruto wore the same type of pants Hinata wore. But he wore a red shirt with a black hood. "So, you ready to go? I am." He held out a hand to her.

"Let's go." She said, taking it. "I'm ready to be reborn." She said, both jumping in step with each other over the village walls, into a new life.


	5. Needs

Yay! Next chapter! I really love doing NaruHina fanfics. Anyway, next chapter! One note: Hime is princess.

Chapter 5

"Hinata, we're out of Konoha now, in fact a good distance away. We should rest." Naruto said softly, seeing Hinata yawn again for the tenth time since they had left. "Also, we need to do something about your wrist. I have a first aid kit somewhere." He guided the exhausted Hyuuga down below a very large tree.

"How much ground did we cover?" She asked sleepily as Naruto pulled out a first aid kit and started wrapping her wrist with an ace bandage, sleeping in a freeze patch below it to help keep the swelling down. "I want to be far away from my father as we can."

Naruto put the first aid kit away. "We've covered several miles." He answered. "I'm thinking that we can go someplace. The people there know who I am and can be trusted." He pulled out a map and showed it to her. "We're about..here." He pointed out, indicating a place about thirty miles east of Konoha. "I'm thinking that if we go to a nearby country, where my friends are, we can go to one of the smaller countries that have no ninja from there, avoiding other ninja contries if possible."

"Sounds like a plan." Hinata said, yawning yet again, emotionally and physically drained. Naruto set up her sleeping area and made her lay down.

"Sleep. I'll keep watch." He ordered kindly, setting his own sleeping area up to be ready for when he could sleep. Hinata was almost already asleep. Hinata, now fully asleep, mumbled something in her sleep and pulled him down beside her.

"Oof!" Naruto grunted as he hit the ground. Hinata kept a strong grip on his hooded shirt and wouldn't let go. Naruto's chest was touching Hinata's back, part of which was bare since her jacket and shirt had ridden up. She smiled contently in her sleep, apparently wanting to feel body heat from someone other than herself.

**I'll keep watch, Kit. **Kitsune said. **You get some sleep too. Besides, Hinata doesn't look like she's going to let go.**Hinata had rolled over and was now facing Naruto, an arm over his side. Kitsune laughed boldly as Naruto blushed madly at this. **Be sure to not corrupt her purity. At least not yet.**

"Kitsune!" He whispered, blushing even harder. "Fine. But I won't corrupt her. Wake me if anything happens, hear?"

**I will. now go to sleep. **Kitsune ordered. Naruto decided to do that, grabbing his own blanket from nearby as best he could. Hinata had pulled him onto the top of the blanket, and it was a little chilly tonight. Kitsune, tired of seeing Naruto failing miserably at grabbing the blanket, pulled it over to him with her teeth. **Now, go to sleep.**

"Yeah, yeah." He muttered as he drifted off, making Kitsune grin.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Shizune!" Tsunade called that evening, a large scroll in her hand. No answer. "Shizune! Where are you? This is important!" Hurried footsteps came towards her office and Shizune walked in, an angry Hiashi Hyuuga behind her.

"Sorry, Tsunade-sama. Hiashi Hyuuga, who really needs to talk to you, was keeping me downstairs." Shizune apologized.

"Wait outside. I'll see what he needs first." Shizune bowed and left the room. "Now, how is it that I can help you this evening?" She asked politely, another matter on her mind, a matter that was probably more important than what he often came in to complain about.

"Something has happened. My daughter has run off with the demon brat!" He exclaimed. "What are you going to do about this?" He demanded.

"Calm down." Tsunade ordered firmly. "If you're going to be like this, you can come back in the morning and calmly tell me the situation." Hiashi calmed down. "I have a few questions myself. 1) Why do you assume this? 2) Why do you care? I thought you didn't even care about her. And 3) Why do I have to do something about this? This is your's clans problem."

Hiashi took a deep breath and spoke calmly. "Her stuff is all gone. She ran away. So I looked all over the place, getting others to help me, and we found nothing. So we searched the demon brat's place. His stuff is gone too. And I would deal with this myself, but I don't have the authority to bring Naruto in for questioning."

"A lot of people hate Naruto for something that is not his fault, including you and your clan. Just because he has what he has sealed inside of him doesn't make him a demon. He's the jailor, not the prisoner. And what other evidence do you have that links those two together? I won't send people into this unless you have stronger proof." Tsunade said, leaving Hiashi flustered.

"He's brainwashed my daughter! He's made her go to his house to clean for him, to cook, to run errands. Hinata is not under her own power." Hiashi half yelled.

"Again, where's the proof?" Tsunade demanded. "If you remember correctly, Naruto is dead last among his class when it comes to skills like brainwashing. In fact, none of his class has any skills even similar to that. Brainwashing techniques are something thay only ANBU know, and few are proficient in them. There's just no way that Naruto would know them, let alone be able to use them!"

Hiashi fell into silence. Tsunade continued her tirade. "Everyone accuses him of crimes falsely, knowing that he can't do the stuff they accuse him of. You have a few options." She declared, her voice so low it sounded deadly. "One is to leave this office peacefully, either way admitting you are wrong. Either he is innocent of what you accuse him of or he's not so stupid after all! Or two, you can continue with your slander and be taken from this office being escorted by ANBU, fighting earning the privilege of being arrested for disturbing the peace. What's your choice?"

Hiashi left the Hokage's office in a rage. Shizune poked her head into the room. The door had almost been torn off the hinges by the force of Hiashi Hyuuga's strength as he slammed the door shut behind him. "Is everything okay?" She asked nervously, seeing the door and Tsunade's angry expression.

"Come in." She ordered. Shizune entered, quietly shutting the door behind her. "I have a mission for you. Take someone you can trust with you and find Naruto Uzamaki. Hinata Hyuuga may or may not be with him. In either case, give him this scroll. No one must be allowed to take it, not they would be able to read it, as it need's Naruto's blood to open it. And ask Naruto to come back. If not, tell him not to worry. As of now, Naruto is on such a long term mission it required him to completely move. The same goes for Hinata, who insisted on him not going alone."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama. I'll leave as soon as possible." Shizune answered, taking the scroll from Tsunade. "I'll be gone by morning."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The sun rose. Kit moved to wake Hinata and Naruto up. Hinata was the first one she woke up. She opened her eyes blearily and felt an arm over her shoulder. She carefully moved the arm away from her and gasped when she saw who it was. "Why did Naruto sleep with me? Didn't he bring his own stuff?" She asked confused.

Her talking made Naruto wake up. "Ah, so you're awake." He noted. "You also finally let me move after you pulled me into bed with you last night in your sleep." He yawned as Hinata froze, completely mortified. "Don't worry. Nothing happened." He assured. "You were probably just longing for something familiar that you could trust. Which is why you grabbed me." He explained as he picked up his bed stuff, which had been completely. "Also, there was a blanket between us too."

Hinata sighed with relief at these words. "I'm sorry about that." she said softly, something Naruto shrugged off. "I really did not mean for anything to happen like that."

"It's fine." He told her again. "Let's just not make a habit of sleeping in the same bed. If we ever get married, then we could do that." Hinata blushed rose red at this sentence. "Come on, Hime. We need to get moving. My friend's place is not far, even at a slow pace. We should get there by evening."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

They reached a medium sized town by evening, just like Naruto had said they would. But before they could reach the town, they had to cross a large bridge, partly covered by mist. "Naruto, are near the sea or something? I smell salty air." Naruto pointed around them. A glittering blue sea, off which the sun was reflecting off, met her sights. "I see." She walked up to the bridge and stopped as the she saw the plaque which told the people what the bridge's name was. She stopped as she read it. "The Great Naruto Bridge?" She asked, bewildered. She turned to see Naruto grinning.

"Welcome to Wave Country." He said simply.


	6. New Allies

Quick Note: I couldn't find Tazuna's daughters name. I'm going to assume that it was Tsunami, since I could find everyone else who had been associated with Inari on the website other than this Tsunami person. I also haven't watched the old episodes in awhile.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Naruto led Hinata through the busy streets of Wave Country by the hand, pointing out some of the places he had been the last time he had been here. It sure was a different place from when he had just become a genin. The place had come alive. The streets were no longer messy, businesses were thriving, people were all around them, socializing and chatting. Another big change was that the food stores were full of food, not almost empty as they had been last time.

"Wow, this place has really come alive." Naruto said happily, trying to find a familiar face in the crowd. Unfortunately, Naruto had really only talked to a few people last time. That had been Tazuna, his daughter Tsunami, and Inari, Tazuna's grandson. The rest of the people had very actively avoided them. Not that Naruto could blame them, considering their situation at the time.

"Naruto? Is that you?" A teen from the crowd called loudly. Naruto couldn't say he recognized the boy, but he had a feeling who it was.

"Inari?" He replied cautiously. The teen nodded and pushed his way through the crowded street to meet the two, though he did not know this, former Konoha shinobi. "Hey, it's been awhile. This place has really come alive." He commented as Inari finally reached. "How old are you now?"

"13." Inari answered proudly. Inari had grown a lot taller. "You should have let us know you were coming. We could have had a proper greeting ready. After all, you are a hero in these parts."

"A hero?" Hinata asked with a smile, Kitsune's tail tickling her neck. Kitsune had opted to ride on someone's shoulder rather than be trampled on by the evening rush. "My, you got around as a genin." Naruto grinned nonchatantly.

"Hey, who's the pretty girl with you Naruto?" Inari asked, making Hinata blush wildly.

"This, Inari," Naruto introduced, "is my girlfriend Hinata. We're taking a trip together and decided it would be good to pop in for a visit."

"So, you don't like that pink haired girl, Sakura, anymore?" Inari asked. Naruto shook his head. "Good, she was too vain. She wasn't the right one for you. Hinata though, if I may say so, looks perfect with you. Where are you guys staying tonight?" Hinata blushed again.

"We'll be trying to find an inn probably. We just got into town and haven't started looking yet." Naruto answered. A voice yelling Inari's name got their attention. It was Tazuna and Tsunami. Inari called back and they were joined by Tazuna and Tsunami. Tazuna recognized Naruto at once, as did Tsunami.

"Naruto!" Tsuname exclaimed, hugging the blonde. "It's been so long. Look at you, you've grown up so much." She gushed. Tazuna broke the hug apart after thirty seconds, as Tsunami was hugging him so tightly he was having trouble breathing. "Oops, sorry." She said lightly.

"How have you been?" Tazuna asked, shaking Naruto's hand.

"I've been fine. I'm taking a trip with my girlfriend Hinata and we were just about to look for an inn." He answered. Tsunami looked to Hinata pleasantly, looking happy that Naruto had found a good girl.

"Nonsense." Tsunami said. "You two don't need to waste your money at an inn, though they do have some good one's around here. You two will stay at our place until you continue with your trip. It's the least we can do after what you and your team did for us."

"If you don't mind." Naruto accepted. Tsunami led them through the crowded streets now, Inari behind them to make sure they didn't get separated. "Hey, Inari. Don't get any ideas back there, you hear? Hinata is my hime." Naruto warned jokingly. Hinata felt her heartbeat speed up at this statement.

"Hey, she's not my girl." Inari said. "Besides, she's way older than me. I'll get someone around my age." Inari promised. They reached the house Naruto and the rest of team 7 had stayed at last time. It hadn't changed one bit.

"Please, come in." Tsunami said, opening the door and walking in, placing the bag of groceries on the counter. "We were planning on having a late dinner, so please feel free to eat with us."

_Kitsune, do you need to eat? You haven't mentioned the need yet, but now would be a good time to know. _Naruto asked Kitsune mentally.

**No, I do not need to eat. But I can if I want to, especially if her food is good. Unless Hinata-_hime _cooks for you, you only eat ramen. **Kitsune answered. Naruto blew that off, knowing now that Kitsune sometimes had a very sharp sense of humor.

"When did you get a pet fox?" Tazuna asked, settling down in the living room after taking his sandals off.

**I'm not a pet! **Kitsune thundered in Naruto's head. **Tell him this!**

_That wouldn't be a good idea. _Naruto stated bluntly. _Remember, no one knows about how we're connected. It's better we play along._

**Fine. **Kitsune agreed with a huff.

"A few years ago, I found her injured in the woods. The citizens of Konoha don't really like foxes, so they were willing to just let her die. I found her and nursed her back to health though." Naruto said quickly. "After that, I tried to set her free, back in the wild. But I apparently house tamed her. We haven't been separated since."

**Hhmpf! **Naruto heard in his head angrily. Naruto grinned.

"That was nice of you." Tazuna said, pulling out a cushion for Kitsune to lay on. "Here, girl. This must be comfortable than Hinata's shoulders, no offense to Hinata." Kitsune jumped down from Hinata's shoulders and laid down.

**Treating me as if I was dog. What's next? A circus monkey wanting to take my place? **Kitsune asked, trying to pretend that she was angry but enjoying the comfort Tazuna had just provided. Kitsune cracked open an eye. **Be sure to get me some food, kit. That stuff smells good.**

A little while later, after setting their bags aside for awhile, everyone gathered in the kitchen and started to eat. Tsunami put down a bowl of the meat stew she had made near Kitsune. Kitsune ate like a well trained pet. When Naruto teased her about this, she replied curtly that even if it wasn't polite to eat like a civilized person, she was still supposed to be his pet.

They settled in for the night, Naruto staying up a little later than Hinata to catch up with Tazuna and his family. Inari was working with Tazuna now, as his apprentice. Inari was going to take over his job when Tazuna retired. Inari was also a good martial artist, specializing in self defense. Tsunami supported them from here, as she had done in the past.

"Naruto, you have some people here from Konoha asking to see you." Inari said the next morning. "They asked me to tell you that they come in peace, and that they need to give you something important."

"Inari, please go tell Hinata this as well. I'll go see them." Naruto replied. Inari left the room, wondering why Naruto was now putting his weapons pouch on his leg.

Naruto walked to the living room and peeked in, the cold expression on his face melting away when he saw who one of the people were. It was Shizune. And besides Shizune was Kakashi. "Well, who is it?" Hinata asked from behind him, nearly making him jump.

"People I can trust." Naruto answered, walking into the living room. "Sorry about my weapons pouch. I wasn't sure who it would be, so I wanted to be prepared." He said as he sat down. "After all, Hinata and I did run away from the village."

"No, you didn't." Shizune said. "Tsunade-sama has sent you two on a potentially long term mission. So long term, in fact, that it required you two to completely move. Hinata insisted on going with you, afraid for your well being." Shizune explained. Naruto caught on, as did Hinata.

"So what does this visit have to do with you coming and finding us?" Naruto asked. In response, she took out a scroll and unsealed it, revealing another scroll. The second scroll was pushed his way.

"This was found in the vaults." Shizune explained. "It's for you, from your father, who is-"

"The Yondaime Hokage." Naruto answered. "I've known for years. In fact, I pulled something over everyone's eyes. The dunce personality was only an act. My being stupid, hotheaded, all of that, all for show. In fact, I'm actually as smart as Shikamaru."

"So you weren't just lucky all the time." Shizune figured. "You were secretly planning everything, not telling anyone. But you could have shown your true power. It would have saved you some time in the hospital."

"I had no choice." Naruto defended. "I was seen as a threat by the villagers. If they thought I was stupid and worthless, it was all the better for me."

"Tsunade-sama and I understand why you're leaving. She has asked me to ask you to come back. But if you don't want to, she'd understand. We're here for you on this one. But why did Hinata go with?" Shizune asked.

"My father suspected that Naruto and I had something going on. He hurt me as he tried to find out. I was planning on running away. But Naruto and Kitsune have been talking about forming a new village, one where everyone is free to be themselves. I tagged along for the ride." Hinata said with a broad smile.

"Hinata and I have been dating since the last mission in Suna we went on together. It was my memories of her that let me come back to life. In fact, until recently, I was dead inside. She brought me back to life in every meaning of the word." Naruto said fondly, taking her hand. "So much, in fact, that if she didn't want to come with me, I would have not gone through with my plans. I would have stayed by her side, no matter what the cost to me."

Shizune smiled. "Well, my mission is done. Kakashi was supposed to protect you two. But I'll leave it up to you two on whether he joins you or not."

"I don't mind." Hinata said simply. "But this is Naruto's mission. It's up to him."

"If he wants to come along for the ride, he'll be welcome." Naruto assured. "We may need guidance soon anyway, if we are to form the new village."

"I'm going with them, Shizune. Tell Tsunade-sama that I'll fulfill my mission well." Kakashi asked.

"I will." Shizune promised. "Keep in touch. We'll be expecting word from you three soon." Shizune ordered.


	7. Sidetracked

I kinda realized that Shizune should have at least been confused about who Kitsune was. And should she connect Kitsune with the demon fox, well, she would, needless to say, be freaking out and having a long talk with tsunade about this. Anyway, ignore my ramblings.

Chapter 7

"Naruto, I'll let you open that in private." Hinata said, dragging a dumbstruck Kakashi with her. "Come on, sensei." Hinata said, ignoring the older man's sputtering. Naruto was left in peace. He bit his own thumb, drawing blood and unsealing the scroll.

Almost instantly, a folded piece of cloth and a ring on top of it appeared, along with a few scrolls and and a note of some kind.

_Naruto, _

_I hope you get this and the elders don't seal it away and forbid it's opening. Your mother wanted you to wear this someday. I told her that she wouldn't even know if you would ever fit into this. But she insisted that I leave this with the stuff I am about to give to you._

Naruto moved the ring and found a robe similar to what the Yondaime Hokage had worn, except instead of orange flames on white cloth, it was a dark blue with orange swirls. Naruto grinned at this and tried it on, finding it a perfect fit, allowing room for a little more growth as well.

_I hope it fits. Though if it doesn't, it's the thought that counts. She really does love you. As for the scrolls, it's a few jutsus that only I know. I never told anyone about them. Maybe they'll help you someday. As for the ring, it's not really a ring. Well, it kinda is. See, it has special seals on it to allow it to transform into any weapon you may need. I don't know if this will be able to convey our love. But your mother put her love into that robe. We don't even know if it'll be your style. But know that while we may do some things that don't make sense competely right now, know that we will always love you._

_Signed, Minato and Kushina, your loving parents._

_P.S. Your mother may actually be alive somewhere. She left Konoha the day I sealed the demon into you. I think she knew that council would obey my last wishes, and knows that you'll be taken care._

"Well, you were there, dad." Naruto said sadly. "I was treated horribly, which is why I'm here now. Though this does look very flattering on me, and fits darn well too." He put on the ring as well, on his middle finger, and he felt his chakra attune itself with the ring. "Though if my mom is alive, why did she leave?" He walked out of the room and found Kakashi and Hinata waiting for him.

"Why does that robe remind me of something?" Kakashi muttered from over his Icha Icha book. "Something to do with who my jounin instructor was when I was a genin." Naruto sighed and decided to let Kakashi figure it out on his own.

"May I ask what the scroll said?" Hinata asked.

"This robe, a ring, which can apparently turn into whatever weapon I may need, and a scrolls of jutsu that my father never showed anyone else. My mother made this robe." He told her, a sad looking coming onto his face as he mentioned his mom.

"What is it?" Hinata asked gently.

"My mother may be alive, not dead as I was always told." He told her. "But why would she leave? She knew that I would live, that I would need a parent. If she had been there, maybe my life would have turned out differently." He sighed. "But if that had happened, there's a chance that we would never be."

"I think we would have still ended up together." Hinata said slyly, standing on tiptoes in order to be level with him. She kissed him on the lips, making Kakashi drop his book in shock. She laughed and turned to Kakashi, who was gaping at Hinata's boldness. "What, don't you remember, we are dating." She said, grinning.

"But that was bold, even by what I expected of you." Naruto said. "Well, my life certainly won't be boring from now on. Not with someone like you by my side."

"Naruto, on a serious note, would you like to see if your mother is alive?" Kakashi asked. "I know of a place that might have some information on her." Naruto turned to his sensei with a gasp.

"Really?" Naruto asked. Kakashi nodded.

"It's a bit dangerous though." Kakashi mentioned. "Shikkyaku. Ever heard of that place? It's also been called Tsuiraku. Most people are only familiar with Tsuiraku though."

Both Hinata and Naruto were familiar with that name. Tsuiraku was the place that ninja often went to when they were sick of their village. It was known to attract rogue nin, which was exactly why it was so dangerous. But because of how active that place was, it was an ideal place to get information on where certain ninja were. But you had to be sure on what you wanted, as it cost a lot of money each time and the information obtained could not always be trusted.

"We're familiar with that place." Naruto answered. "But can we really find out there? It has a shady reputation and the possible rogue nin there is unmeasurable. Can we handle that area?"

"Naruto," Kakashi asked, "are you saying this because you really aren't sure about our ability to handle this or because you're afraid we actually will find your mom? This must be pretty intense for you."

"I only want to know one thing. Why was she never here for me?! She knew where I was, why was she not there at all?" Naruto demanded. Hinata slipped a hand into his and squeezed.

"We can always not to do this Naruto." She said. "We can understand if you wouldn't want to. After all, you raise a good question. Why wasn't she there." Trembling now, Naruto squeezed her hand in return. "But you still at least want to know." Hinata stated. Naruto nodded gravely.

"Then I'll lead you there myself. It is a dangerous place. But I know my way around there. During my ANBU days I often went there for information I had that we generally weren't knowledgeable about it. Just stay near me." Kakashi said. "You two are only chuunin, even if one is a genius one."

"We will." Naruto promised. "After all, I want my answers."

Notes:

The next chapter will be longer. He he. I have something in store for Kushina and Naruto.


	8. What the heck is going on!

So, the next chapter. Sorry about the wait. Due to several pent up emotions, I had huge writers block. And now those emotions have been let out, so I can write again! Yay!!

Chapter 8

The next day they left the Land of Waves and set out for Tsuiraku, where they would hopefully find information that would lead them to where Naruto's mom, Kushina Uzumaki, was. Soon after they left, Naruto's thoughts were once again on his mother. He wondered if it was okay for him to wear the robe his mother had left for him. _But, _Naruto reasoned, _even if she abandoned me, it still might do some good. What if she recognizes it? _He smiled now.

"Hey, you two!" Kakashi said loudly, pushing both chuunin from their thoughts.

"Yeah?" Naruto said, doing his best to sound like his normal self.

"We're almost there." Kakashi told them. "Remember, stick near me. If you two should get separated from me, stick together and keep clear of trouble at all costs. No matter what happens, we'll most likely end up together again. And that's just because of the nature of the town." He grinned. "One time, while on a mission here with my sensei, I got lost and found him in the most unusual way. I let myself get captured. Eventually he started asking questions and found and freed me. Of course, I was never really captured, since I went of my own will." He laughed.

"Right, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto and Hinata said. "Of course you weren't really captured."

Kakashi glared at the two youth with him, pretending to be angry. _Of course they won't believe me. After all, Naruto is used to my teaching method's. Still, I can't believe he had me fooled for so long. Who would have thought that Naruto purposely played everyone for a fool. Just like Minato-sensei. _Kakashi grinned and shook his head, now approaching a pair of battered gates. Faded japanese characters, barely readable now, announced this place as Tsuiraku. Or as the proper name for this place, which few even knew, let alone used, Tsuiraku no Sato.

--

Note: No means of and sato is village, properly pronounced Tsuiraku no Sato, meaning Fallen Village. Shikkyaku also means fallen in japanese.

--

Hinata got closer to Naruto, clinging to his arm. They had done some training while in the Land of Waves, and while she had quickly mastered the art of sealing, which wasn't that hard, and had even found a little of her confidence, she still had a lot of self doubt, inflicted by Hiashi and the rest of his corrupt clan. Naruto was already doing small things to change that and hoped soon that she would be confident enough to stand on her own. "It'll be fine." He promised her. "After all, we have Kakashi-sensei with us. Also, you have the strength in yourself. You just need to believe in yourself."

"Right." She said nervously, loosening her grip a _tiny _bit. "Who knows. Maybe you'll have your answers soon."

"That would be nice." Naruto agreed absentmindly, taking in the details of the town as they walked through it.

The name of the village directly responded to it's name. Many of the buildings were old and dilapidated. It only had about a dozen houses on this street and many of them had missing windows. Unlike elsewhere, no children ran on the street cheerfully, going about playing busily. In fact, he saw no signs of children anywhere here, something that didn't surprise him. The streets, only packed dirt no matter how you looked at it, were dirty and dingy, overflowing trashcans by every house. And many shady characters skulked in the shadows.

"Are there any businesses in this town?" Hinata asked softly.

Kakashi nodded. "But very few. You of course have inns here. But the economy here is so bad it doesn't have many openings for jobs. Most people survive here by stealing or begging. Which reminds me. Keep track of your money and other personal items."

**Kit, tell him that I'm keeping an eye for pickpockets. No one can fool me. **Kit ordered Naruto.

_"What?!" _Naruto exclaimed mentally to the small fox hiding in his pocket. _"If he found out about you, he would freak! Tsunade probably already found via Shizune. Kakashi would only make the situation worse than it already is."_

**And what can he do about it?! **Kitsune demanded. **He can't separate us! Not even he is strong enough to do that. Besides, it's not like I'll go rampaging again. Tell him the truth.**

_"And have Konoha found out? We still have enemies there! We would have assassins on our tails, worried about an S-class secret leaking out. And it won't matter if we're on a mission or anything else we may be able to come up with." _Naruto said with annoyance. _"That would stop our mission here and now."_

**Fine. **Kit said with just as much annoyance. **Despite the fact that I think he would take it better than anyone else there. **

Hinata knew that Naruto was not yet in complete control of the connection between him and Kitsune. He probably couldn't both talk to Kitsune and pay attention to the real world at the same time. So she guided him until she saw that he was once again paying attention to the world outside his mind.

**And why do I have to hide in this stuffy pocket?! **Kitsune asked vehemently. **While we recently discovered my ability to change size at will, I can also ride on your shoulders invisible! **

Naruto inwardly sighed. _"I don't want to take any chances." _Naruto explained. _"Remember what Kakashi said? A lot of these people are starving. They would take one look at you and see only meat. Even if they did stand a chance of catching you, I don't want to lose you. Something else we haven't considered yet is how you being injured or you even dying will affect me."_

Kitsune sighed but voiced no further protest. She too also didn't want to risk losing Naruto. If she could, she would travel around as a human and hide him in a pocket to keep him safe. But that just wasn't possible. Kitsune sighed again. But only Naruto could hear that sigh.

Kakashi cast a weird glance Naruto's way. He knew about the demon's new form and everything that entailed. Why was Naruto trying to keep it a secret from him? He had a feeling that Hinata knew of it. _But he also trusts her with his life. Does he think that I'll report back to Konoha and try to separate him from her? Has he grown that attached to her already? Minato-sensei, I wonder what you would do in this situation. Would you say to gain his trust?_

"Kakashi-sensei, where are going now?" Hinata asked suddenly. Kakashi started and resumed his original search.

"For now, I'm looking for someone who might have some information." Kakashi told them. He led them down an alley. "Be wary of attack. This street, when I was younger, was where you waited for someone who might have the information you seek. Also, this area is also for turf wars and, often time, muggings and/or murders of those who sought the information." Hinata and Naruto loosened their weapons pouch in their legs, not openly declaring violent intent.

**Kit, there's someone waiting in the shadows. **Kitsune warned. **A tall woman, focusing intently on you and only you. But she's not even armed. I think she wants to talk to you for some reason. I suggest we do it. There's something familiar about her, from your oldest memories by the way, that's calling out.**

_"Then let's do just that._" Naruto agreed, pulling his arm gently out of Hinata's grip and running forward.

"Naruto, what do you think you're doing?" Kakashi demanded quickly. "We need to stick together!" He exclaimed.

Naruto ignored this and slowed down as he entered the shadow where she was waiting. "We won't hurt you." He promised softly. "So will you come out?" He asked gently, holding out a hand instinctively. The woman hesitated for a second before taking his hand and allowing him to pull her out of the shadows and into the bright sunlight.

The woman squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. She pushed long red hair out of her eyes, revealing blue eyes the exact same shade as Naruto's. She looked Naruto over, having the look of one who found someone or something familiar but not quite sure how. Her eyes widened as she saw his robe.

"Kushina?!" Kakashi blurted out, making Naruto glance between Kakashi and the woman he was still holding the hand of. Blushing, he let go.

"I'm sorry." He said quickly. "I just wanted you to come out of the shadows so I can see you properly." She stared even more intently at Naruto, making Naruto wonder if she could even speak at all. "Mam, are you mute? Can you hear me?" Her eyes widen and she fell to her knees, clutching her head with a loud groan. Naruto grabbed her by the waist and helped break her fall. She was a lot taller than him.

"I'm sorry." She muttered softly. She got to her feet weakly, looking up at Naruto as she did so. "It's just that I know you. And the white haired man behind." She looked to Kakashi. "Kakashi, what are you doing here after so long? And why did you bring my son to such a dangerous place?!" She demanded with an angry look on her face.

Kakashi paled, as did Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei, is that true?" He asked loudly, staring intently at his sensei.

"Kushina..." Kakashi murmured. "What are you doing here?!"


	9. Laying Low

Yay, the next chapter! I'm so glad that my writer's block is gone. -celebrates- BTW, if you want to see the location of the village, let me know. It's not saving the web address that I paste in. The location of where their village will most likely be is mentioned below as they are talking to Kushina.

Chapter 9

"What...what the heck is going on here?!" Naruto demanded loudly, first pointing at Kakashi and then to Kushina. "Not even a genius would be able to straighten this out with this little information!" Naruto exclaimed, tempted to just go slam his head against the wall. Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder now.

"Relax. I think we are all in the mood for some answers." Kakashi said evenly. Naruto stalked over to Hinata. "Kushina, I think we deserve an explanation here."

"Not here. I'll take you to my place." She promised. "Come on. I'll take you there now." Kushina walked back into the shadow and they heard a creak as some kind of door opened. She emerged back into the light and beckoned them to her. "Come on. It's this way." She said impatiently.

"Come on guys." Kakashi ordered, going towards the red head. Grudgingly, they followed and went through a door that had been disquised as part of the wall, emerging, not into a house, but a series of tunnels. They followed the woman claiming to be Kushina through this one and that one, only Kakashi and Kushina keeping their bearings straight. After going down about a dozen different tunnels, they ended up at a dead end.

"Well, this was not a waste of our time." Naruto said grumpily. Kakashi shot a glare towards Naruto.

"Naruto!" He scolded. "Be nice."

"No." Kushina conceded. "He has every right to be this way. After all, how long was I gone? I have a lot of explaining to do and a lot of lost time to make up for. He needs to time to take all of this in, if he wants to at all. All I ask is that he gives me a chance. Then he can make his own judgements on the matter. Agreed?" She asked Naruto, who nodded agreement. Nodding back, she pushed in a brick on the wall and the wall slid up.

They were now looking upon a small room. One of the corners was filled with many pillows and a few blankets. A very small bathroom was off in one corner. A low rectangular table sat in the center of the room, which was piled high with books and scrolls. She pushed them all onto a blanket onto the floor and pulled the blanket towards the pillows. "I'm sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting company." She said, straightening up. "Heck, I hardly remembered anything until now, much less expect company."

"Uhmm, Kushina, what do you mean by that?" Hinata asked, sitting down on a pillow near the table. "I think Naruto wants to know as well, just doesn't know how to say it."

"Who are you to him?" Kushina asked, joining the others, who had sat down by now.

"I'm his girlfriend." She answered shyly.

"Aw, my little boy grew up!" She said jokingly. Naruto only gave her a cold stare. "Sorry. Guess I haven't earned that right yet. My bad."

"No, you haven't." He said evenly, trying to stay calm.

"Let me explain how I ended up here." Kushina offered. No one raised any objections. "See, a few months after you were born Sarutobi asked me to go on a mission, one that he could only trust to me. I accepted, leaving you in the care of one whom I could trust. Now, your father had imparted to me some very important information before he died. I got into some trouble on the mission and did the only thing I could think of, doing a memory wiping jutsu on myself, making myself forget anything and everything that had to do with you or Konoha. I was hoping someone would come after me and jog my memory, or at least take me someplace where I could remember. It was the only way to keep that information safe."

"And your memory was jogged when you saw Naruto and I?" Kakashi asked.

"Partly." Kushina admitted. "It was the robe Naruto was wearing. I made it for him and remembered all the hours I put into it." Kushina looked at Naruto's hand and saw the ring. "I see you're wearing the ring your father left you. Do you know what it does?"

"I know what it does." Naruto admitted, starting to trust her. He could usually tell when one was lying and he couldn't sense any lies from this woman. "But I haven't tried it out yet. But what was so important that you made yourself forget to protect it?" Naruto asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. "And how did you end up here?"

"The information that I wanted to protect was your father's last words to you. Some private advice, secrets about his family, a few abilities that you may or may not have. Also, military secrets from Konoha. We have/had a lot of enemies. I don't know Konoha's current status." She said. "As for how I ended up in this trashy place, a rogue nin found me and took pity, taking care of me here until I could do it on my own. Now can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Naruto replied. "What is it?"

"What are you doing? Surely you three aren't on a sight seeing trip."

"We're forming a new village." Naruto replied. "Hinata and I got tired of life there, so we're making a new home where we can be ourselves without being judged. I was hoping that we might find some others who feel the same way and join us. It's a place where we can be free to be ourselves, as long as they don't do any corrupt acts."

"That sounds like a good plan. I know several people here who are labeled missing nin just because they left their village because they weren't happy their. I could talk to them about joining you if you would like. Also, I would like to join you as well." Kushina admitted.

Naruto and Hinata discussed this rapidly with each other, both finding nothing wrong with this idea. "And where were you hoping to building this village?" Kushina asked. Naruto pulled out a map and pointed to a location.

"No one lives there." Kushina remembered aloud. "No, a few small villages, nothing bigger than that. No one should oppose you. That was a good choice. You must have been a hit at the academy." Kakashi snorted at this. "What, are you calling my son stupid?!"

"No, he's not dumb." Kakashi said in an attempt to restore the peace. "But he played the part of a dunce until after he left the village. So everyone thought he was stupid because that was how he acted."

Kushina turned to Naruto. "Now why would one do that?" Kushina asked him, staring at him intently.

"The villagers saw me as a threat. It was better to be a dumb threat than a smart one." Naruto said in his own defense. "Besides, it worked in my favor a lot on missions." Kushina didn't reply for a second then burst out laughing. "What is so outrageous about that?"

"Well, it just reminds me of something Minato, your father, would have done. I'll see who I can get here tonight so you can talk to them. In the meantime, you all should lay low here. We dont't know whose attraction you could have gotten." Kushina suggested. "There's food in a box near the bed if you are hungry. I'll be back in a few hours." She said as she left the room, shutting the door behind her.


	10. A Challenge to Prove One's Strength!

Kushina returned a few hours later to her hidden room, just like she had she would. She cast a bemused expression toward's her guest, finding that she had one more guest now than she had when she had left. Kakashi was settled in on the cushions, reading a book. Kushina noted that it was the latest Icha Icha book. Hinata was meditating in the corner, her eyes shut. Kushina could sense the chakra rotating through the girl's body. And Naruto was sitting near the table, making the ring on his middle finger take one shape after another.

Watching him intently, and occasionly making a comment, was a tall woman with long silver hair, held back by a blank headband. Brownish-red eyes squinted every now and then, focusing exclusively on Naruto and his experimentings. The woman wore a tight red v-neck shirt, black fishnet visible underneath, going past the sleeves, which stopped at the shoulders, and down to her shoulders. Her lower bottom was covered with a pair of black shorts, knee high shinobi sandals on the rest of her legs.

"Naruto, who is this?" Kushina asked evenly, not remembering letting such a woman into her home. This woman was one who she would remember letting in.

"This is Kitsune." He answered, returning the ring to normal. "She is in one of her physical forms, and actually the 'demon' who attacked Konoha and was sealed into me as a baby." He continued, now giving full attention to his mother. "But I won't reveal anything else without her permission."

"I already know." Kushina said, sitting across from Naruto on the floor. "Your father's family had long been making friendships and deals with 'demons', as the rest of the world called them cruelly. He knew that most of them were not actually cruel or evil. The evil acts that they did was brought on by some stupid human's actions."

"So, someone with a brain. And someone who actually uses it." Kitsune stated, clearly impressed. She held out a slender hand. "I believe that it is a custom of you humans to shake hands during a formal introduction. I am Kyuubi no Kitsune, though you may call me Kitsune, as Kit does here." Kushina shook it with a smile. "You have a question. Ask, and if I can answer, I will."

"Well, I knew of the steps and changes that would take place, including your new ability to take a human form. But I'd always thought that the human form would have fox ears and a tail." Kushina admitted sillily. "I know, it's silly. But, it's what I thought." Grinning ferally, Kitsune made her ears and tail pop out.

"I can hide them at will." Kitsune explained, flicking her tail lightly. Kushina couldn't miss the strength and stamina that this woman had. She had a feeling, that if Kitsune wanted to, she could easily wreak chaos anywhere she chose with no problem. "And yes, I could." Kitsune agreed, reading Kushina's mind easily. "But I won't. When I was living in the mountains away from civilization, my only desire was to live in peace. Now it's to protect Naruto here. And I know he would not approve of that. And he could even still stop me, as I'm still technically sealed into him."

"Were you invisible when you came in? I didn't see you enter." Kushina asked. "Let me guess, you were in your fox form, also smaller, riding somewhere in their bags or something."

Kitsune smiled and nodded. "Actually, in his pocket." She said, jerking a thumb towards Naruto. "Kit, I think you got your brains from your mom. Granted, Minato was smart, but extremely air headed. Unless you got him mad. Then few people could stop him." Naruto grimaced at being compared to his parents. Kitsune ruffled his hair in response. "Like it or not, I consider you my kit. You have three parents, two of whom are in a good position to embarrass you."

"Kushina, what did you mean by powers earlier? You said Naruto may have some powers." Hinata suddenly asked, stopping her meditation. She came over to them, stretching her stiff limbs. Kakashi was still completely into his book. "I have a feeling they have to do with Kitsune."

"Another smart one!" Kitsune exclaimed, tickling Hinata with her fluffy tail. "I also consider you my kit, by the way. And yes, his powers are directly tied to me. While I was still in his body, they were bound and sealed. Upon Minato's planned next stage of the process, which is how I am now, they were unlocked. Naruto need only become aware of them."

"What do I need to do?" Naruto asked eagerly. "And what are they?"

"The first one is heightened senses. You should now have every sense of yours heightened to the maximum." As Naruto became aware of this, his eyesight, which was already good, became even clearer and more focused. He was able to hear a lot more than he had ever been able to it. Naruto wrinkled his nose as his new heightened sense of smell kicked in.

"Urg, that was one sense I did not need heightened!" Naruto complained. "Now I know how Kiba feels with his smelling." Kitsune smiled.

"And the second one will come in very handy." Kitsune promised. "Focus on me, very intently." Naruto did so and he suddenly saw a bright red aura surrounding Kitsune. "It's not an aura." Kitsune corrected. "You can see chakra. Only instead of like the Hyuuga's Byakugan, it's the person's 'aura.' Over time, you won't need to concentrate to see one's chakra. This also allows you to predict your opponent's next move, as well as scan one's chakra to determine what his chakra nature is and tell which area's of study he/she is best suited to."

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed, already making plans to start training that sense until he could do it automatically with no effort. "By area's of study, do you mean like ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu, and all the other types of jutsu?" Naruto asked. Kitsune nodded.

"But don't only focus on those abilities." Kakashi said as he joined them. "That'll what end up in your death." Kakashi promised. "You must become good in every area to be a good ninja. And don't forget about the two other types of jutsu, doujutsu and fuuinjutsu. Your father was good in all of those areas except doujutsu, which he couldn't use because that uses the person's genetic bloodline limit. And Minato-sensei didn't have one."

"Fuuinjutsu?" Naruto asked, never having heard of this one. (And no, I did not make it up. It's stuff like sealing demons into human hosts and stuff like that. Check out for more details on that if you would like. It's basically sealing techniques.)

"It's the type of jutsu that is basically sealing. You and Hinata already know the most basic use of it." Kakashi explained. "It not only allows one to seal demons, though that has a very high price, but to seal elements as well." Naruto remembered a time when he had seen Jiraiya seal some black flames into a scroll. He realized that he had already seen some fuuinjutsu.

"While I am thinking about this, those who I can trust will meet us tomorrow at noon at a secret place I'll show you to." Kushina told them. "They want to meet you all before they go riding off into the sunset with us." Everyone gave her a funny look as she said that last phrase. "What?" She asked defensively. "Those were their words, not mine."

Hinata yawned. "Well, that settles it." Kushina said. "It's lights out now. You all need to rest. Especially for tomorrow's meeting." Kushina grabbed a scroll from near her bed and unsealed it, more bedding and pillows appearing. "I don't have enough for everyone. I have some of the most commonplace, and some of the wierdest, things sealed into scrolls." Kitsune popped back into her fox form and lay near Naruto's feet as he got into bed.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Kakashi roused everyone the next morning at around ten. Well, he got everyone up except Kushina, who was up before him. While Kakashi got Hinata up, Kushina got Naruto up. Kitsune took her human form. "I'll get Kit up. You gotta know what to do, otherwise he takes _forever _to fully wake up." Kushina turned to Hinata, who was cuddling with a big chibi doll of Naruto.

"Kitsune, what's up with that doll of my son? It's kinda creepy." Kitsune laughed at Kushina's question.

"Hinata cuddles with that over the real Naruto." Kitsune told her. "On the first night they left, she was physically and emotionally drained. While asleep, she pulled him down next to her and wouldn't let him go. Naruto had no choice but to sleep where he had pulled down to. Naruto had that made to give her the comfort that she feels the need for at night, while also using that doll as protection for both of them."

"How does a doll protect them both?" Kushina inquired, confused.

"Hinata doesn't sleepwalk into Naruto's bed this way. And if they don't sleep in the same bed, he knows that her purity is protected. He would hate himself greatly if he did something he regretted because of a teenage boy's hormones. As you should know, it's not that hard for something small to become big, to cross that line." Kitsune explained.

"Yeah. Maybe it would just be better to get it over and get married." Hinata said while still half-asleep. Kushina blanched at this, Kitsune laughed, and Kakashi was thinking something along the lines that this would make a great book. "Oh, what did I just say?!" Hinata asked, having shocked herself into full awakeness.

"Why not?" Naruto asked, everyone turning to him with shocked expressions. "Well, we are forming a new village. And we do love each other. So it was bound to happen eventually. Hinata has a point, get it over with now, and we'll be happier in the long run." Kitsune pulled on Naruto's ear painfully, making him wince loudly. "Hey, hey, what's this for?!"

"Don't speak about marriage so flippantly. Marriage is a sacred thing, not to be taken lightly." Kitsune scolded. "For all we know, this may just be a fling of yours."

"No way!" Naruto swore. "There's no way this can be only a fling. Don't you know what they say? Blondes are the fun ones, redheads are the types you have the fling with, and dark haired ones are the ones you'll want to spend the rest of your life with." He grinned and pulled his ear of Kitsune's grip. "Now, come on, didin't someone say something about a meeting?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Kushina had led them to all to a small junction in her maze of tunnels and left through a door. After that, a big, run down building five miles away from the door. The door creaked as they opened it. They met face to face with about a dozen waiting people, all sitting in various places around the room. One of them had the eyes of a Hyuuga. That man looked shocked and ran before Hinata, getting on one knee. "Lady Hinata! Had I known that you were one of the ones making the new village, I would have had no hesitation of joining you. But what are you doing away from the clan? Not that I don't like seeing you again."

"I left because my father got too controlling." Hinata answered. "I, along with my boyfriend Naruto, both seek a place where we can be ourselves. So we decided to form a new village, and make that village a place where we're all free to just be who we are without clans who judge us. But who are you? I don't remember you at all. And please, get up. You don't need to do that for me."

The man got up. "Lady Hinata, I am Toushiro. I was in the clan until shortly after you turned one. I could see the potential you had. But before I saw you as the heir, I saw you as Hinata, a sweet little girl with no evil in her at all. I hated to think of what the Hyuuga Clan would do to you. But I had no power to change that, as I was only a member of the Branch Family." He said. "And I see that you have not changed. I'm glad to see that." Toushiro smiled.

"I was only able to do this thanks to Naruto. I still have self esteem problems thanks to my clan. But we're working on that." She said. "I hope we will be able to count on you in this endeavor. We've already made some strong allies. But we'll need all the help we can get, in order to make this dream come true."

"Lady Hinata, I will do so gladly. Finally, a good person from our clan. But may I ask two small favors of you and your boyfriend, Naruto, I believe you said his name was." Hinata nodded to both of those things. "One, well, no one here is any good with Jyuken, they don't even know it. May we spar every now and then, just to keep our skills sharp?"

"Of course. But I'm not completely perfect at it, thanks to my father refusing to train me properly." Toushiro shook his head.

"Of course, if you would like, I can help you there. I was very good at it from a young age." Hinata smiled brightly at this. "And Naruto, I have a favor to ask of you. Would you hear me out?"

"Of course." Naruto promised. "If I can help I will."

"I want to have a match with you. In order to see just how good you are. I want to know if you are strong enough to be Lady Hinata's consort, as she deserves someone strong." He declared, earning a grin from Naruto.

"And if I'm not?" He asked daringly. Toushiro smirked.

"We'll have to wait and see." He promised, getting into a fighting stance. "Do you accept my challenge?"

"I do." Naruto stated, also getting into a fighting stance, one completely different from the one Hinata had always seen. "And Kitsune..."

"I know." Kitsune said with a grin. "This is a fight between men. I'm going to let you handle this one on your own. Make us proud."

Notes:

Jasaiya: -fangirl scream- Sorry, I just had to. This turned out so well! And over 2500 words, a pretty good length for me. I usually only average about 1500. Well, the reviews are going to be interesting for this chapter. I'm going to spend some time on the next chapter as well, to make sure it's a just awesome magnificent fight scene!


	11. Passing the Tests and Gaining Allies

Many of the people watching the match going on outside the building weren't sure what exactly to think. Yes, Naruto and Toushiro had started their match now. But while trying to beat the crap out of each other, they were also exchanging pleasantries. "Who exactly is this guy?" A tall blonde asked. Said blonde was hanging upside down on a tree branch, gripping with his knees. "Not only does he want to talk to Toushiro in a friendly manner as they fight, he not's even winded despite this!" The man forgot to continue gripping with his knees, crashing to the ground head first. A shorter woman with bright oranger hair ran to his side.

"Danston!" She exclaimed, searching for injuries. "Idiot! You gave yourself a concussion. Stay still, I'll heal it." The woman's hand glowed green and the head injury vanished.

"Thanks Hiriko." Danston said, relief evident in his emerald green eyes. "Babe, what would I do without you?" Danston asked sweetly, pulling Hiriko onto his lap. "Say, what do you think of the kid?" Hiriko smiled.

"I like him. It's evident he'd make a good leader, even he did act the part of a dunce for his entire life like Kushina said he did." She wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him deeply. "Now shush. I want to pay more attention to this match."

Naruto, meanwhile, blocked a jyuken strike from Toushiro, sending him crashing into the ground. "Say, I have a question, Toushi." Naruto said.

"How many times do I have to say that my name is Toushi_ro, _not Toushi!" Toushiro thundered, making a trip attack. Or trying to anyway. Naruto heard the rustling of his baggy white pants and predicted the attack. "And what's your question?!" Naruto smirked, glad to know that he was hitting a nerve.

"How did you escape the caged bird seal?" Naruto inquired, throwing a chakra enhanced punch his way, which Toushiro dodged. It barely skimmed his cheek, giving him a light scratch, sending a faint trickle of blood down his cheek. "I know for a fact that all Branch Family members have that seal, which the Main Family can easily kill with."

Toushiro laughed. "Let's just say that I had a 'friend' in the Main Family, who couldn't remove it, but made it ineffective. They couldn't stop me as I left." He laughed, pulling out a kunai and slashing. Naruto dodged it easily. "I see you at least take your fights seriously. That works in your favor. But only when you beat me will I admit that you are a good consort for Lady Hinata!"

"Then about I take this to the next level?" Naruto asked, grinning ferally. "Shall I show you a jutsu my father passed on to someone to his student, who in turn taught me?" Toushiro grinned and made a 'bring it on' kinda gesture.

"Hey, Hiriko, you might want to be ready to do some healing." Toushiro advised. "I'm also going to use my strongest jutsu." The oranged haired medic nodded sagely and got up ready to rush in to do some healing should there be that need. Another ninja present also did likewise, this one having black hair and blue eyes. "Ready, Naruto?" Toushiro asked, a ball of pure fire forming in his right hand, slowly growing in size.

"Bring it on, Toushi." Naruto swore. "I can deal with anything you can bring."

"We'll see." Toushiro promised as Naruto quickly made a Rasengan in his right hand. Both were grinning wildly as they ran towards each other, right hands extended in front of them. Both roared as they came into contact with each other, chakra and fire exploding on contact. A huge cloud of smoke and fire encased the area and everyone coughed to clear their lungs.

"Those two both clearly have a warrior's spirit." A seven foot tall man said. The man had flaming red hair and blue eyes, plus a huge set of muscles. A huge sword was strapped onto his back. The smoke cleared and they saw the result of the battle. Toushiro had flown backward, hitting a tree, cracking the tree in half. He was currently unconscious, his body hanging over a thick tree branch, which was smoldering.

Hiriko ran to Toushiro and began to treat his injuries. "Kimara, tend to Naruto!" She ordered. The black haired ninja ran to where Naruto was. He was laying twenty feet away from Toushiro, on his side, scorch marks on his clothes and body. Blood dripped from a wound on his arm and forehead. It looked as if he had taken the complete blow of Toushiro's attack. Toushiro seemed to have taken all of Naruto's attack.

Naruto, however, got up before Kimara reached him. Staggering to his feet shakily, he spoke. "Is that enough for ya?" He asked, dazed. "If it's for Hinata, I'll do what I need to." Toushiro stirred as he woke up and he sat up dizzily. Hiriko helped him up.

"I...admit defeat." Toushiro confessed, allowing Hiriko to help up stand up. "I will gladly serve you and Lady Hinata."

Naruto fell back onto the ground with a curse. "Ow." He said simply. Kimara was silent as she treated Naruto's injuries. "Thank you. What's your name? I couldn't hear it earlier." The medical ninja scratched a word into the dirt next to them. "Kimara?" He asked. The girl nodded with a small smile.

The tall man with the huge sword walked over. "My name is Raita." He said as Kimara finished healing him. "Kimara here is my like my little sister. But she's also mute. But that doesn't hinder her natural talent. We've all gotten pretty good at understanding her though." He ruffled Kimara's hair, producing a wide smile from the mute girl.

"No, it doesn't." Naruto agreed. "From now on, I'll try to understand you, Kimara." Naruto promised. "It'll take some time I think, but I will at least try. Can you be patient with a knucklehead like me?" He asked jokingly. Kimara's sky blue eyes lit up excitedly at this. She swooped down on him with a hug.

"She likes you." Raita said. "Not many people can see past her muteness and see her as a person. I like you too, kid. I'll help you with your village. And it seems that Kimara is in too." He offered the blonde a hand up. "Do you still want us?" He asked as he helped Naruto heave himself to his feet.

"Of course." Naruto agreed. "Our original desire was, and still is, to form a place where everyone can be accepted as they are." Danston and Hiriko came over, followed by Hinata, Kitsune, Kakashi and Kushina.

"I'm Danston." The blonde said. "And Hiriko and I will also join you. If you can get Kimara to like you so fast, you must be someone special." Naruto blushed. "Ahh, a shy one!" Danston laughed as Naruto blushed even harder now. In total, Kushina had gathered ten people. The other five came up and introduced themselves, saying they liked what he wanted to do and pledged their support in his dream. Yukizaki, Iono, Omamori, Ikaragu, and Lycia joined their cause as well Toushiro, Raita, Kamira, Danston, and Hiriko.

--

Note: In order to spare you a lot of boring information you don't need at the moment, I'll fully tell you about each of these characters in more detail when I introduce them fully into the storyline. I also have to create those personalities anyway. Also, sorry about the length. I know the last chapter was way longer. And the fight scene kinda sucked. But that was just a test fight. The Hyuuga Clan will be moving into action, wanting to stop Hinata to restore their honor. And they won't like what they find, LOL. That should be a serious fight, and someone will be helping me make it good. Neonzangetsu does amazing fight scenes.

Actually, I had something else planned, but FF was a buttmunch and caused problems with it, so annoyed, I did something else.


	12. Neji is Reborn!

Notes: Someone gave me a really useful for the last chapter. And I will think of that during the rest of the story. The OC's will not drown out the story. I'll only be using a few actively, the rest being there should I need them to be there. Thank you for not only that review, but all the reviews I have gotten so far. I really appreciate them!

Chapter 12

Naruto's group only stayed in Tsuiraku for a few more days, long enough for everyone to finish all of their business here and to say goodbye. Naruto paid careful attention to how his new allies worked together, something he would have to consider for the new village.

Kimara, of all the group, intrigued him the most. She was like a little sister to all of the group. She appeared to be closest to Hiriko, whom she apparently thought of as her big sister. Hiriko was only a few years older than Kimara. She was also extremely close to Raita, whom she thought of a father. Raita was several years older Kimara. Raita liked to carry Kimara on his shoulders a lot, much like a father would, especially when Kimara was tired. And while all of the group clearly doted on the mute young medical nin, she was not spoiled.

Kimara, Raita, Hiriko, and Naruto's group also sat down and explained some of the ways that Kimara communicated with them. She had specific signs for things like hunger, exhaustion, help, and just plain wanting to hang out with her friends. Naruto did his best to memorize all of this, still knowing that despite his memorizing the stuff, it would still take awhile for them to become proficient in communicating with each other.

"But Kimara knows that and understands." Danston said when Naruto pointed this out. "We all know, and especially Kimara knows, that you're at least willing to try and give it a chance. Not many people are willing to do that."

"How old is she?" Naruto asked. Danston laughed.

"Take a guess." He said.

"I'd say fifteen, after observing many people and making an educated guess." He answered. "How close am I?"

Danston smiled. "Sixteen, not fifteen. Which makes Hiriko, who is only four years older than her, twenty. Aren't you only seventeen?"

"As is Hinata." Naruto replied. "If it's for her, I'd do anything. She actually saved me life, which was when I realized my feelings for her. See, I can be a bit dense on some subjects. And love is one of them." He grinned. "But despite all of that, she never gave up on me. She too wanted to leave, mainly to get away from her clan. I'm surprised no one has tried to bring her back yet. She not only left the clan without permission, but she was also the heir to the clan."

"Toushiro won't let anyone bring her back to the clan." Raita said. "I was just talking to him. He said neither you nor Hinata would return to Konoha against your will if he could help it." Raita pulled some of his red hair out of the way. "He really is devoted to Hinata."

Kimara ran up excitedly to Naruto, a red and silver ball of fur in her arms gently. She pointed to the ball of fur and then to Naruto with a questioning look on her face. Naruto recognized the ball of fur as Kitsune. **Kit, it's not that I don't mind the attention. But I don't think this girl has ever had an animal in her life. I'm coming back to you. **Kit said as she jumped onto Naruto's shoulder's.

"Kimara, this is Kitsune, my familiar." Naruto explained. Kimara had been asking who the fox was for. "She's a good and loyal friend to me." Kimara smiled and stroked the back of Kitsune's neck. "So, you ready to go? We're leaving tomorrow." Kimara nodded eagerly and pointed to her bag, something Kushina had given her. All of her stuff was packed. All she needed was the signal to start on their journey.

* * *

The next morning, everyone met at the town gates. As one, they turned to face the gate and waved goodbye. Kimara was especially excited to get on the road. "She likes to travel and see new things." Raita said. "And it's been a long time since she's been able to do so."

"Well, I'll just have to make sure she gets plenty of opportunities to do just that." Naruto said. Hinata, who was behind everyone talking to Toushiro, smiled.

"Naruto and Kimara are really bonding." She said happily. "I'm glad to see that."

"Naruto and Kimara have kindred spirits. That's why they can get along so well. In order for true friendship and companionship to be born, there must first be understanding. And they understand each other very well." Toushiro said, also happy to see Kimara actually having a friend near her own age. Everyone in the group, except for Hiriko, was over thirty years old.

"Aarrgg!" Someone yelled from a location near them. Toushiro activated his Byakugan and looked around.

"This way, Lady Hinata." He said, running toward's that location. Hinata and Naruto followed on foot. They came upon a clearing. Toushiro and Hinata froze as Naruto only grew angry.

"Neji Hyuuga, Hiashi-sama ordered you to return Hinata to the clan! And you will do just that!" A woman, obviously from the Main Family, as she was using the hand sign that only they knew, using it to cause Neji pain by activating the curse seal on his forehead. "What do you say? Do you still foolishly want to join her?"

"I won't recant!" Neji swore, laying on the ground, his face screwed up in pain. "Hinata and Naruto did a good thing by leaving. And he woke me up, pulling me from the destructive path I was on. I will join and help them. They offer the one thing I have always wanted."

"Lady Hinata, I will get Neji from their hands." Toushiro said, swooping in and knocking the Main Family Hyuuga's away from Neji. Neji was pulled away from the battle quickly as Hinata was joined by the others. The enemy Hyuuga's were forced to discontinue the hand sign that activated the cursed seal. Neji went limp, the amount of pain he had felt too much for his body to take.

"Toushiro, please protect Neji and yourself. We'll take care of these two." Hinata asked. Toushiro nodded and assumed a defensive posture in front of Neji.

"Hiriko, Kamira, be ready to heal any injuries." Naruto said, making his ring take the form of a staff. "Everyone else, these two stand in our way. Show no mercy!" Raita pulled out his sword, Danston assumed a fighting stance. Hinata took the jyuken stance. The rest of the group fell back, waiting to see if they were needed. Even if the two Hyuuga's were strong, they had four people going against them.

"Lady Hinata, please come with us!" One of the enemy Hyuuga pleaded. "Your father is prepared to help you free yourself from the demon brat's control." Hinata grew angry.

"He has no control over me. I told him that I wanted to leave and he helped me become free of you guys. You'll pay for implying that Naruto would resort to such cruel methods. You don't know him him at all!" She yelled, charging in, aiming a well targeted Jyuken strike toward's the woman who had insulted Naruto. "He and I are one, no one will separate us!" She whispered in a dangerously low voice in her ear as the woman collapsed to the ground.

Kakashi sweatdropped at such a fierce show of strength from Hinata. "Remind not to tick her off from now on." He said nervously.

"Good going Hinata!" Naruto cheered as he jabbed his own opponent in the gut with his staff. "See, you can do it." Naruto brought his staff around and tripping the man as he went to his knees. Danston, who had joined Naruto when the fight had begun, quickly broke the man's neck. He did the same to the one Hinata had just defeated.

Hinata felt sick to her stomach but hid the awful sensation. But she, as was everyone else here, was a ninja. Sometimes they had to do things they didn't like. "At least bury them properly." She said softly. One of the others with her, one with earth natured chakra, excavated two holes in the ground with her chakra. Raita carried the two dead nin to the holes and they were covered up.

Hinata now had moved over to where Neji was being treated by Hiriko and Kimara. "How is he?" She asked.

"He'll be fine." Hiriko promised. "But he needs rest. I was wondering. Toushiro, do you know how to make his seal useless, like what was done with yours?" Toushiro nodded.

"I'll do it now." He said, removing Neji's forehead protector and making a special handsign. The seal became faded, still visible, but not nearly as much. "When he wakes up, he'll be free." Toushiro explained.

"Give the boy here." Raita said. "I'll carry him until the next town." They set off again down the road, coming to a medium sized town as the sun set. They booked rooms at a few inns, due to their large number, and settled down for the night. Naruto shared a room with Neji, who still had not woken up. Sweating, he opened a window, letting the cool night, noticing that Neji was sweating as well. Naruto grabbed a cool cloth and wiped away the beads of sweat.

"What are you doing?!" Neji demanded as his eyes opened and he shot up into a sitting position. Naruto dropped the cloth on the bed. "Wait, Naruto?" He asked, confused, releasing Naruto's wrists. "Something feels different. Where am I? And how did I get here?"

"One question at a time." Naruto cautioned. "We heard you say that you wanted to join us. As for what I was doing, it was hot and you were sweating. I wiped away the sweat. As for where we are, we've stopped for the night and will start again in the morning. Raita carried you here, as you passed out from the pain." Naruto reached for a small hand mirror. "Look at your curse seal." He ordered.

"What...?" Neji trailed off, as he saw how the mark had changed. "What does this mean?"

"Our friend Toushiro knows how to make that curse seal ineffective. You still have it, but it can no longer be used against you. Simply put, you're free." Naruto answered. "So, do you want to come with us and make a new village with us?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"I would like that." Neji replied. "But there is something you should know." He said gravely. "Hiashi threatened to use the curse seal against me if I didn't infiltrate your group and take care of you. But I won't do that now, since they have no power over me anymore. Now that you know that, will you still let me join you?"

Naruto extended a hand out. "Let me tell you the name of the village we are making." Naruto told him. "Or, the name I would like it to have. Shinsei no Sato, village of rebirth. If you want to come, you'd be welcome to join us." Neji shook Naruto's hand. Then he found his forehead protector, which had been placed within arm's reach of Neji's hand, and dropped it onto the floor.

"I want to." He said happily, stomping on the the forehead protector. "Consider me your newest follower."


	13. Plans for a Reunion?

Neji woke up the next morning feeling better than he ever had in his life. _Oh yeah. My seal has been made useless. I'm free. _Neji remembered. And he gladly admitted that he liked this feeling. No one back with the clan had any idea that he had just deserted his clan. _But I have apologize to Hinata and thank the one who made my seal useless. Toushiro, wasn't it? _

Someone knocked on the door and Neji answered it. It was a man with black hair and pale eyes. Hyuuga eyes. He wore wide baggy pants and an open half jacket. (Kinda like Grimmjow's from Bleach. Someone actually already compared them to Bleach characters in a review. BTW, this is a better description of Toushiro.) The man also had a bandanna covering the top of his head.

"Ah, you're awake." The man said, stepping into the room. "My name is Toushiro, formerly of the Branch Family, as I'm told you are now. Naruto-sama has informed us that you have joined us. Welcome to the group."

"You are the one who freed me from the cursed seal?" Neji asked.

"That would be me. We're having breakfast downstairs. Lady Hinata has asked me to check on you, and to also ask you to join us. Shall we go?" Neji nodded and followed Toushiro out of the room and down a set of stairs

"Thank you." Neji said. "For freeing me from that family. I feel free now, something I think you may understand." Neji smiled.

"I do. And you're welcome. It feels nice doesn't it?" Neji nodded warmly, feeling very happy. "How did you get along with Lady Hinata and Naruto-sama before they left? They speak of you quite fondly."

"I respected Naruto as a comrade before. Now I respect him even more, for doing something that I never had the courage to do. He broke away from it all. As for Hinata, we didn't get along that well. I'm going to give her an apology. But I don't understand why they speak so nicely of me. After all, I nearly killed Hinata in the chuunin exams. And Naruto always didn't like the Hyuuga Clan, especially before Naruto went on his two and a half year training trip."

"Naruto-sama could tell that you had changed." Toushiro said. "He played the part of a dunce in Konoha to fool everyone. Now that he's left, he's let his true self show. He really is a genius."

"Naruto played the part of a dunce?" Neji asked, shocked, as they finished going down the stairs. He remembered their fight in the chuunin exams, the clever trick he had played by emerging from the ground and socking the daylights out of Neji. He had always thought it just dumb luck. But had the fight been cleverly planned the whole time? Toushiro grinned as Neji realized this.

"We're here." Toushiro said, emerging into a large dining room. Everybody looked up as they entered. Naruto grinned from his seat, a young girl sitting next to him. Curiosity filled the girl's eyes and she waved to Neji eagerly. Neji waved back. And next to the girl sat a huge man. Standing, he would have been seven feet tall. Flame colored hair, blue eyes, huge muscles. Hinata sat on the other side of Naruto.

"Neji!" Naruto said energetically. "Sit down and I'll introduce everyone." Neji sat down and one of the inn's employee's brought his some breakfast. "You already know Kakashi and Hinata. But this is my mom, Kushina." He said, pointing a woman who looked nothing like him on the other across the table. Nothing except for the blue eyes. "And the rest of these guys are some of my mom's friends who have agreed to help us form the village. Of course, that makes them my friends now too." He grinned, introducing each one to him by name now.

"It's nice to meet you all." Neji said. "Lady Hinata, Naruto, thank you for allowing me to join you."

"Please, just Hinata will do. Toushiro won't stop using Lady in my name, but I would like it if you just called me Hinata." Hinata said.

"Can I work into it? It's going to take a little while to get used to that." Neji said sheepishly. (Yeah, Neji is a bit OOC. I'll explain that shortly.)

"It looks like Toushi freed you from more than just the seal on your forehead." Naruto commented. "I don't recall ever seeing Neji like this. What about you Hinata?" Hinata shook her head no. "So, what's brought about this change? We knew that you have had a change of heart, but we didn't expect it to change you this much."

"Allow me to explain." Toushiro asked. "The Caged Bird Seal, while giving the Main Family power over those who have it on their foreheads, also suppresses the mind. Not only do they have the fear that someone will activate it, causing a slight case of depression a lot of times, it causes the mind to work differently. Over time, Neji would have ended up as most Branch Members, stiff and robotic, so to say, in nature. Now that it's power no longer works, the brain is starting to work as it naturally should, releasing his mind from the barriers that it put up. The barriers are meant to drain away, just enough to affect us, personality and feelings, as well as prevent traitorous thoughts from popping up."

Hinata shuddered. "I had no idea." She said. "As heir, I should have known this." Her head dropped, clearly depressed again

"Hiashi never saw you as an heir." Naruto told her gently. "So he never bothered to tell you this. Now cheer up, please?" He begged. "I've gotten so used to seeing the happy you. Seeing you depressed again bothers me." After a few seconds of this, she still didn't cheer up. Sighing, he suddenly kissed her, making Neji's jaw drop. "Now, see here. We're no longer of that place. Be free to be yourself, don't let that bastard have power over you any longer."

Hinata smiled as she was released from the kiss, which had been short but passionate. "You're right." She said sillily. "Oh, by the way Neji, Naruto and I are dating." She added, seeing his expression. "I'm a completely different person now, as are you. Welcome to our family." Instinctively Neji almost thought something to the effect of that she shouldn't date someone from outside the clan.

_The most important thing now is that she's happy. Who cares about that clan anymore? Not her, not Toushiro, and not me. _Neji reminded himself. Instead, he smiled. "I'm happy for you two." He told them, starting to eat his own food now. Hinata and Naruto looked shocked for a second, then turned to each other and smiled, now starting to eat themselves. _And to think that she could have been like this all along. Who would've thought? _

Neji observed his new "family", as Hinata had put it. They were obviously a tight knit group. The other young girl, who sat on Naruto's side other than Hinata, seemed to be either mute or deaf, as she was communicating only by her hands and facial expressions. _Mute. _Neji realized, as she seemed to hear just fine. But no one seemed to mind this. _It'd be nice if we could get some more of our own generation from Konoha here with us. Well, maybe after we form the village, we might be able to convince some of them to join us. _He smiled again.

"What are you thinking about?" Someone asked quietly from behind him. Neji turned around and saw Naruto and Hinata there. "Come on, don't be shy." They encouraged. Neji looked up at them.

"Well, I was thinking how it might be nice to get some of our generation from Konoha to join us." Neji replied, pushing his empty plate away from him. "You know, the Konoha 12 getting back together." He blushed as he thought of something. "Especially...the girl I like from that group." Naruto and Hinata turned to each other smiling. "I know she likes me back. But I refused to let my own wishes take prominence over the orders of Hiashi. That was really stupid of me."

"We were thinking the same thing." Hinata admitted guiltily. "So, who is it? We'll put extra effort into recruiting her."

"Ten-ten." Naruto said. Neji blanched at this, confirming his suspicions. "Hinata, when we go there to ask them to join us, make sure to really try to convince Ten-ten. It's only fair that they feel the happiness we do. But I don't think it'll take much coaxing. Especially if Neji does the talking." He wrapped an arm around her waist tenderly. "So Neji, you wanna talk to her about coming to join us? Come on, don't be held back. You're free now. Live it up."

"That would be nice." Neji agreed, mentally celebrating the fact that he no longer had family expectations to hold him back.

Notes:

Some things to look forward to in the future: 1) Sakura bashing 2) More of the Konoha 12 joining them. It'll be funny with the way I am planning it. laughs 3) Longer chapters! I really am trying to make my chapters longer from now on.

Oh, the thing about the Caged Bird Seal affecting the way that their minds worked is something I came up myself. I'm trying to make them look bad. And if there are any specific people from the Konoha 12 that you the readers want to come to Shinsei no Sato, please let me know. I will really consider your opinion. Lee and Ten-ten are already definites. laughs again And Ten-ten **will** be paired with **Neji**, not Lee. It's just that his arrival will be kinda interesting. There may also be a short time skip here soon.

And again, sucky fight scene. I forgot to ask Neon to help me. Urgg. Sorry. I'm better at writing fight scenes for D.Gray Man than I am for Naruto.


	14. More New Allies

Okay, a few notes before I begin. Yes, there will be Sakura bashing this chapter. But no emo bashing, as he's probably who knows where with that creepy snake and his sick sidekick. As long as I am kept clueless, everything is fine. I don't like snakes or bugs. Plus, Kabuto is just plain demented. On the other hand, someone asked to bring the second generation of Ino-Shika-Cho to Shinsei. As no one else, as of when I post this chapter, has requested anyone, I have decided to bring them there. Everyone else from their generation is either 1) on my hate list or 2) already there or are going to be there soon. So, on with the show! BTW, I paved the road for a couple of new pairings.

* * *

A few months had passed now. They had gotten permission to form their village from the country's leader. Now they were all still building the main village. Even with the help of multiple shadow clones, it was still taking awhile. For the first few days, they had slept in tents. Then they had gotten the necessary supplies to start construction. Now they had two huge buildings, one for the hospital and one which would serve as the center of town. This would have the offices that would help run the village once it really got started.

Also, they had a few houses built. Naruto, Kushina, and Kitsune stayed in one of them. Neji, Toushiro, and Hinata had another. Raita and Kimara had one of their own, as did Hiriko and Danston. Yukizaki and Omamari, who actually were siblings, made their own as well. Iono, Ikaruga, and Lycia all opted to live together. Kakashi stayed with Naruto and his family.

Naruto and Neji were working on a few more houses now, as they were sure that more people were going to join them soon. By now, both of them had long since ditched their shirts, allowing the sweat that they were both producing by the bucketful, to fall freely. Kitsune jumped up agilely to them now. **Kit, we have company. **She said lightly. **But I don't think that they're enemies either.**

"Neji, wanna come with? Kitsune says we have some company." Naruto asked. Neji finished nailing on the last bit roof that he was working on and put the hammer back into his tool belt. (Another odd item that Kushina had sealed up)

"Sure." Neji said, wiping his brow. Kitsune jumped onto Naruto's shoulder as both he and Neji jumped onto the ground. They walked up to the center of town, where they saw a group of people waiting. Naruto and Neji grinned, clearly recognizing the group waiting for them.

"Just put him down here." An annoyed female voice said. Neji grinned, remembering very well who that voice belonged to.

"This is so troublesome." Another voice said evenly as someone in a green jump suit was lowered to the ground. "And this all that employee's fault. If that drink had not been brought to the wrong table, he would be conscious and able to walk on his own. He nearly destroyed that inn. Again, troublesome." Naruto grinned.

"Arg, I'm hungry! When will we get some food?"

"Complaining won't help Chouji."

"Seriously Chouji! We came here to support and help Naruto and Hinata, not complain! Now be quiet or I'll use my mind transfer technique to _make _you be quiet!" Naruto burst out laughing, drawing the attention. He smiled again, noticing that every single ninja from his generation was there, with the exception of two.

"Neji!" Ten-ten exclaimed excitedly, running up to him. "You're different now." She said. "But I think I'll like you better as you are now then as you were before." She promised, hugging Neji tightly. She started to blush as she realized that Neji still had his shirt off. Neji's body heat was very hot compared to hers. "It's good to see you again."

"I missed you." Neji said, pulling out of the hug. "And I want to apologize for before. I was an idiot, letting rules and traditions get in the way of our relationship. I'm sorry. But I at least hope you're willing to give me another chance. I'm no longer that person." Ten-ten smiled softly.

"Of course. That's why I came here! I mean..." She trailed off, embarrassed that she had just admitted the true reason she had come here, the reason she had sworn to keep secret until the right time. "Neji, I always liked you. Even when you insisted on keeping our relationship strictly as teammates. So..." Ten-ten blushed even harder now. "Darnit Neji! Look at what you're making me do!" She was pouting now.

"I'm not doing anything." Neji swore playfully. "This is all you." The two continued to argue playfully.

"Hey, Shikamaru, what happened to Lee?" Naruto asked curiously.

"We stopped at in inn last night. This morning, as we were preparing to leave, Lee got served the wrong drink. It was alcohol." Shikamaru said. Naruto shuddered, knowing full well how Lee's body to alcohol. "And as you know, he went nuts. We prevented him from damaging the inn. But after he stopped being violent, he acted like a total drunk still. He passed out a few hours ago. And we're glad he did. He was hitting on Ino and Ten-ten in the most obscene and stupidest ways." Shikamaru sighed. "So troublesome."

"Well, how about we take this to my house?" Naruto suggested. "We'll settle down there for awhile. Neji and I were needing a break anyway."

"Food at last!" Chouji yelled. "Hey, speaking of your house, you need to tell us everything that happened since you left. The village was in chaos for awhile. You should have seen everyone's faces when Tsunade-sama told them that you and Hinata had left the employ of Konoha. And the elders freaked when we all told them we were leaving. All except for that pink haired bimbo of course."

"Sakura really didn't like your decisions or ours." Ino said in way of explanation, brushing blonde hair out of the way. "See, this is how it went..."

_Flashback_

_"How could you all?" Sakura demanded as Tsunade disbanded the meeting. "Naruto has pretty much abandoned this village and threw the Hyuuga Clan into chaos! And you all want to join him?!" Kiba turned to glare at the pink haired medical nin._

_"That place tormented my teammate beyond all imagination. If this means that she's happy, I'm glad she's left." Kiba said angrily. "And Naruto had just as good reason to leave as she did. They're happy together and that's all that counts. And besides, who is calling them traitors? Tsunade-sama just said that they were now forming a new village with the permission of the council, not that they were traitors." Kiba grinned as Akamaru barked noisily. "I know, boy. She IS annoying."_

_"Kiba!" Sakura yelled. "I thought you would agree with this!"_

_"Kiba is right." Shino agreed. "They aren't traitors. If anyone is a traitor, it's your precious Sasuke. He left the village with the enemy willingly, all for the sake of power! To say that Naruto is a traitor for leaving the village under a peaceful banner while Sasuke is not when he left the village how he did is a double standard. Sasuke wasn't that special. If anything, he was lower than scum, as you just proved yourself to be."_

_Sakura stuttered, unable to persuade the words she wanted to say to come out of her mouth. "What, speechless?" Ino asked coldly. "Good! After how you treated Naruto, pushing him aside like trash the way you did, all in order to impress Sasuke, you should be."_

_"You're just like me! You are also obsessed with Sasuke!" Sakura said defensively._

_"No, I'm not." Ino pronounced gravely. "I was disillusioned after Sasuke betrayed the village. I realized that I had been wrong and accepted that I made my mistakes that I had made. But you are just like those corrupt leaders here. All like Sasuke this, Sasuke that. No one ever saw Naruto as a person. But Sasuke was the apple of their eye. At least they realized what he truly was. But you..." Ino said, near tears now. "You still aren't! Naruto could die for all you care, even saving you and you remembering it, and it still couldn't have been him! No, only that stupid Sasuke was capable of doing that!" Shikamaru put a hand on Ino's shoulder to calm her down._

_"We're still joining him." He said. "Sasuke and **you**_ _are both lower than scum in our eyes_ _now. And it's better to leave our home and go to a place where we'll be accepted then be condemned to the fate of the people of this village. Maybe you'll find your precious Sasuke soon. But I doubt they'll let him live. Not after what's he's done. The village isn't as stupid as you are." _

_One by one, everyone except Sakura undid their headbands and dropped them on the ground. "Guys..why?" She asked tearfully._

_"We're sick of this place." Ten-ten answered. _

_"And if we could help, we are never coming back to this place. We're going to Naruto's village, and will help him make it great." Ino promised, proud of the tears that she was crying. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to be reborn, just like Naruto's village promises."_

_End Flashback_

"Guys..." Naruto said, stunned. "You all really did that? For Hinata and I?" Kiba nodded proudly.

"None of out families were really happy about this decision. But it's our lifes. Here, they will do some good. You guys delivered on your promise too. Neji has been reborn. If you can enable his rebirth, just think about what you can do for the rest of this world." Naruto sniffled.

"We have a lot of catching up to do." Naruto realized. "But first, there's a few people you should meet." He said. They reached Naruto's house now. "One of them is a reborn Hinata, now my girlfriend. We started dating shortly after I woke up from my near death experience months ago." Naruto grinned. "And the other one might shock you guys." They entered the house, where Kushina was taking a break herself from her construction work. "Guys, this is my mom, Kushina. Mom, meet my friends."

Everyone introduced themselves, Shino introducing Lee, who was still out of it. Shikamaru was last. "And I'm Shikamaru Nara. We've come to help." Kushina smiled, standing to properly welcome them.

"Welcome then. We need all the help we can get." She said warmly. Chouji's stomach growled. "Naruto, tell the others to meet in the center of town. We're having a welcome feast since we just gained so many new allies. Spread the word."

Naruto sped out of the house. The last thing he heard from his house was Chouji's loud, triumphant yell. "FOOD!!"


	15. Feasting

"Urggg!" Lee mumbled, holding his head in his hands as Hiriko helped him sit up. "Where am I?" He managed to get out, a slur evident in his voice.

"Kimara, the mecidine please." Hiriko requested. Kimara brought over a mug of some steaming liquid. "Now be quiet and drink this. This will take care of the hangover in time for the feast." Hiriko prevented Lee from spilling all the liquid while also making sure the majority of the liquid made into his mouth. What dribbled out she wiped away with a damp cloth. The green clad ninja snapped to full awakeness.

"Huh? How did I get here?" He asked, a very confused look on his face.

"This is Shinsei no Sato." Hiriko answered. "Your friends carried you here. Apparently you shouldn't touch alcohol and you accidently drank some. My name is Hiriko. I am helping Naruto and Hinata form this village. After a warm bath, you'll be well enough to go the feast we're having tonight."

"First I must find Hinata." Lee protested. "I carry a very important message to her from her little sister. May I find her first please, Ms. Hiriko?"

"Just Hiriko." Hiriko insisted. "Kimara, please go find Lady Hinata and ask her to come here. Tell her about everything you just heard." The young nodded and ran out of the building. "That's Kimara. She's my apprentice." Hiriko offered Lee a hand up. "Stretch your legs while I go start the bath. Kimara should be back shortly. But don't leave this building yet." Lee nodded.

Kimara returned shortly after Hiriko left, an anxious Hinata behind her. "What's this I hear about Hanabi?" She asked, her voice quaking. "Is everything okay? Is she in trouble? I knew I should have taken her along!" Lee put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Your little sister is fine." Lee assured. "But she wanted you to know something. Gai-sensei and Kurenai-sensei are on their way here now, though they will only be visiting. They've taken Hanabi with because she wanted to see you badly. And the sensei's want you to know that nothing will happen to her while she is under their care. Hanabi wants to stay with you."

Hinata's eyes went wide. "How did my father react to this? He was mad enough to lose one heir. But losing the only other possible heir? He can't be happy with this."

"Hanabi proved herself." Lee answered. "She told him that she wanted to see you. After a huge argument, it was decided that if she could win a match against an opponent of his choosing, she would be allowed to leave. Needless to say, Hanabi kicked her opponent's butt and handed it to everyone else on a silver platter." He smiled. "She really took your leaving hard. They said they would be here about a week after us."

Hinata fell to her knees in relief, tears of joy coming from her eyes. "Hey, what's going on?! Why is my girlfriend crying?" Someone demanded from the doorway. Lee looked up to see Naruto standing in the doorway, blocking the sunlight. "Hinata, are you ok?" He asked gently, hugging her.

"I'm fine." She answered joyfully. "My little sister is on her way here. I felt really bad about leaving her there. But when we left the village, I had no choice. I was hoping that we could go back for her soon. But she tried to find me first." Naruto smiled and stood up, pulling Hinata up with him.

"Sorry about just now, Lee." Naruto apologized. "It's just that I don't like to see her crying. I fought for her once already and I wouldn't have hesitated to do so again had the situation called for it. So, you up for the feast? Now that you're back on your feet, I can explain everything that happened after Hinata and I left. Everyone else already knows."

"Lee, the bath is ready!" Hiriko called from upstairs.

Naruto grimaced. "Urg, so that's what it was. The alcohol off you is strong."

"Naruto, you've changed." Lee said. "Tonight, at the feast, you must tell me everything. I won't take no for an answer." He swore as he went upstairs. "Oh, and by the way, someone else is coming with them, and she wants to stay. I'm sure you remember Anko-sensei."

"I won't hold back a single thing." Naruto swore in return. "By the way, Hinata, you should know something. Neji and Ten-ten just hooked up. They should have done so ages ago." Hinata only smiled and laughed at this. Naruto paled as Lee left. "Crap, how could we forget Anko? she was that crazy proctor from our first chuunin exam." Naruto groaned. Hinata giggled. "This oughta be interesting."

--

"Chouji, save some food for everyone else!" Ino scolded loudly as Chouji cleared dish after dish of food. "Remember we don't have an economy going yet as well. Use some self control for once in your life." Chouji groaned.

"Naruto, once the village gets going, will you be the leader of it? Or will someone else be the leader?" Lee asked as he ate some of one of the salad's that had been made for the feast tonight.

"Well, we haven't really discussed that yet." Naruto admitted. "In the end, it'll be who can best lead us. And be that me or anyone else, I don't have any problems, as long as they watch out for this village and make sure we're all free to be ourselves." Naruto grinned, accepting another plate of food from Hinata.

"We've all talked about it." Hinata informed them. "And we all think that it's only fair that since you're the one with the idea and you're the one who made the effort to start all of it that you be the leader." Naruto grinned shyly at her words. "Which is why we need to make sure you're at full strength. After all, we will soon be announcing our village's existence to the world. And since we're going to take awhile to become strong, we'll need to make good appearances."

Shikamaru sighed and continued eating his own food. _Who would have thought that I would answer to one of my own generation as my leader this soon? Tsunade was still older than us, and knowing her, probably would have lived a lot longer than us anyway while still looking only twenty five years old. _

"Shikamaru, relax." Ten-ten said happily from behind him. Neji was being dragged along as well, though he didn't seem to mind at the moment. "Still, we'll all probably end up camping outside for awhile. This village is just not big yet enough to be able support so many shinobi. I just heard from Hinata too that Hanabi and Anko-sensei will be joining the ranks as well. But we'll be a strong village in no time."

"Do you realize we already have twenty three shinobi when the village gets going? And more people will probably come when they hear of what we stand for." Neji pointed out in agreement. "Though we will need to get a younger generation in if we are to continue to survive as a village after twenty years or so."

"Oi, Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed from nearby. "Tsunade-sama asked me to to tell you to consider a special type of training. Since Kitsune is almost like exactly Akamaru here, she wants me to train you in fighting with Kitsune."

"What, you've never seen her transform?" Naruto asked blankly. "Kitsune can not only fight in her fox form, but a human form as well. Maybe I'll convince to show you later. Though Kakashi-sensei might freak out, since she's apparently very hot. I wouldn't know that though. And it would make me feel very creeped out if I started to think along those lines." He laughed.

**Kitsune, warn everyone. I'm going to show them my human form. **Kit said, jumping from his shoulder.

"Hey, guys, Kit is about to show us her human form, a.k.a. show off." Naruto warned jestfully. Naruto felt kit's feigned offense at this and grinned. The red and silver fox slowly turned into a human. Kakashi's nose suddenly spurted blood as Kitsune materialized in her human form. She still wore the v-neck muscle shirt and the fishnet underneath and the same black shorts, the same shoes, and the same headband. But he didn't think any of them had remembered her clothes to be so formfitting, so tight. Which of course hid nothing of her curvy waist or her larger than average chest size.

"So, what do you guys think?" Kitsune asked flirtatiously. Naruto and Neji both blushed and attempted to keep pure thoughts in their head. Kakashi looked like he had just fallen in love at first sight, his nose still dribbling a little blood.

"Man, she looks hot enough to date." Kiba said smoothly. "Say Naruto, you wouldn't mind me and Kitsune dating, would ya?"

Naruto shook his head quickly. "Keep something in mind." Naruto pointed out. "Whatever you do with her and the experiences she has with you I become aware of. When you two would have gotten personal, I would know everything. I only want those kinds of thoughts in my head if they concern Hinata here."

"Also know this, Kiba Inuzuka. Relationships between my kind and yours are taboo. And the few times they did happen, they never worked out. If kids were produced from that love, they led bad lifes, not belonging completely to either parent's world. Hated and feared by the humans, pitied and looked down upon by us, that's no life to lead." Kitsune told him. "Though if I had to pick a mate from among you, you would be the most desirable human here."

Kiba blushed heavily at this. "But that training might do us well." Naruto agreed. "Kitsune, what do you think about that?"

"It would strengthen our bond." Kitsune admitted. "So it would't hurt us."

"Naruto-sama, with your permission, I could teach you some medical jutsu as well. That way you would be balanced and would be able to heal your comrades in battle should that need arise." Hiriko suggested.

"Sure thing." Naruto said absentmindly, his mind on how happy Hinata was. "We'll have to get some younger kids here soon too. Hanabi will get lonely otherwise. But I know Anko will raise hell once she gets here." He feigned a groan. "We'll, we'll have to deal with that when the time comes.

--

Notes: The next chapter will be the Hyuuga's sister reunion, plus Anko causing chaos in her home, LOL. Then the chapter after that will be the official first day of Shinsei no Sato, construction complete and them starting to really live there.


	16. Welcome Home, Little Sister

GOMEN! GOMEN! I took forever, I know. But well, it's been busy. I'll see how this chapter goes. I just remembered something. Lee could have ridden on Akamaru, because Akamaru goes where Kiba goes, and Kiba went to Shinsei no Sato. -gives self dork stamp- Aren't I smart?! Oh, I am still trying to figure out how old she is.

--

Naruto groaned as he walked into his house. He just spent the past six days in the wilderness with Kiba, though he had been loath to leave the village at all. But after many reassurances, he had been convinced to go do some training with Kiba. A lot of the process had been able to be skipped, as Kitsune and Naruto were already thinking and acting as one. The emotional connection, that usually took years of training to perfect, had already been achieved. So Kiba had pushed them hard in thinking on how they could join their attacks, teaching them a few new techniques to enhance them, and how to successfully use these in combat.

The result: Naruto went home exhausted. Bruised and battered from almost a week of intensive training, it was to a point where Naruto had so many small, minor bruises, as they accumulated, that even Kitsune had problems keeping up healing him. They had found out one drawback to Kitsune being free of Naruto's body: Kitsune couldn't heal him as fast as before. But that had made Naruto realize that he should learn not to depend on Kitsune so much. There was a possibility that something might happen to Kitsune. But Naruto didn't want to ponder the possible effects of her being injured or killed.

"Naruto, how was the training?" Kushina asked as he stumbled into the house. Naruto didn't answer right away, only flopped onto the couch face down. Kitsune had made sure to be clear of that area, opting to lay down on a cushion nearby in her fox form. "Are you ok?!" Kushina asked running over and checking him for any injuries.

"Oww." Naruto said softly as Kushina's hand went over one of the bigger bruises on his chest. "Just a bunch of bruises. We found out that Kitsune can't heal me as fast as she did before. Which is why I'll probably be hurting for a few days." He groaned. "But right now I just want to catch up on some sleep and eat. Kiba is one hard teacher."

"Kakashi, go get one of the medical ninja. Tell them that Naruto could use some healing." Kushina suggested. "I'll go get you some food. Stay put."

"No argument there." Naruto said wearily, trying not to fall asleep on the couch. The couch had been one of the things they had gotten when they had purchased the supplies a month back. It had been one of the other pieces of furniture that had been gotten to furnish the homes with. It was actually quite comfortable.

"Here." Kushina said as she returned with some leftovers from the previous night. "It's not fancy, but it's food." Naruto gladly took the food, enjoying the aroma of it. His heightened sense of smell had let him smell a variety of things he had not been able to smell before. And having eaten only off the food from the forest for the past six days, this smelled good.

"Thanks." Naruto said. As he ate, Kimara rushed in, a worried Hinata behind her. Kakashi settled back in the place with his book where he had been before Kushina had asked him to go get a medical nin. As Kimara healed his multiple bruises, some of which were really dark, Hinata spoke.

"I just saw Kiba." Hinata told him. "He looks just as bad as you. No doubt he'll be getting a medical ninja to heal all his minor injureis as well. It must have been some pretty intense training to beat the both of you up so badly."

"It was." Naruto agreed. Kimara finished healing his bruises and communicated that he should get some rest. "I will." Naruto promised. "Isn't Hanabi and Anko arriving tomorrow? I wouldn't be forgiven if I skipped that just for the sake of rest." He grinned. "Plus, my body will not let me stay awake either. I'll have to set my alarm clock to get up earlier tomorrow so I can bathe. The water will only put me to sleep."

--

The next day all the Hyuuga's in the village were more energetic than usual. Toushiro, who had never met Hanabi, was eager to meet her. Neji wanted to apologize to her as well. Hinata just wanted her sister safely in the village. Hanabi, Anko, Gai, and Kurenai finally arrived at ten. Hinata was talking to Ino about something when the call went up that they had visitors. Hinata ran to the gates, which they were just now starting to work on, and saw the group of four approach the center of town. Hanabi was walking by Gai's side, who spotted Hinata as she stopped in the center of town, crying softly as as she saw her little sister safe and sound. Gai whispered something into her ear and pointed in Hinata's direction.

"Big sister!" Hanabi yelled as she ran toward's Hinata. Hinata met her younger sister halfway, taking the younger girl into her arms and embracing her. Hanabi was crying, her body shaking with the strength of her sobs. "I missed you. I thought I would never see you again."

"I'm sorry for leaving without you. Really, I am. At the time, I had no choice. But that still doesn't make it right." Hinata rambled softly. "But I'll make it up to you. Promise."

"I understand completely." Hanabi said confidently, pulling herself out of her older sister's embrace. "But we're together again. That's all that counts. I fought one of the strongest in the clan and beat him! I beat Ganzo, one of the strongest ninja in the Hyuuga Clan!" She said excitedly.

"I heard. And I'm proud of you. In a minute, I'll take you to see the other Hyuuga's we have here. But first I need to say hi to Kurenai-sensei and the others." Hinata promised. "Kurenai-sensei, Gai-sensei, Anko-sensei, it's nice to see all of you again. And thank you for getting Hanabi here safely. You don't know what it means to me." She said with a bow.

"It was no problem Hinata." Gai assured. "Your sister has quite a lot of youth. I'm happy that you two have finally been reunited too."

"Hinata, how have you been?" Kurenai asked as she hugged her former student. "I've been worried about you. And what's this I hear about a boyfriend?" Hinata laughed.

"Oh, him." Hinata replied happily. "Naruto is around here somewhere, no doubt working on one of the construction projects around here. He should be resting, after how he came back so beat up with his training trip with Kiba last night."

"So, Kiba and the others arrived safely?" Gai asked. Hinata nodded. "That's good to hear. Lee was really hesitant to come here. It took me assuring him that I would always be proud of him and would not hold it against him either to convince him that it was okay to come here, as his heart was telling him to do."

"Though Lee was kinda drunk when arrived, something about receiving the wrong drink at breakfast." Hinata told them. Gai and Kurenai turned pale at hearing this. Anko did not know how bad he could get when drunk. "But there was no damage, so it all ended up okay."

"Where is that Naruto of yours?" Anko asked. "I wanna go greet him." Hinata activated her Byakugan and scanned the area.

"By the end of the gate that is currently being built right now. But please don't rile him up too much. He wouldn't listen when we told him he should take it easy for today." Hinata asked.

"Sister, can I go see Naruto too?" Hanabi asked from Hinata's side.

"Let's all go see him." Gai said loudly. "I had trouble believing that he played us for a dunce this whole time. But if he is that smart, like everyone is saying, I bet you he could even fool Shikamaru with his intelligence."

"Let's go then." Hinata agreed, leading the way to the part of the gate they were currently building. "Naruto, they've arrived!" She called out as they approached. There was a blur as someone jumped down from the top of the wall, which was fifteen feet high, to the ground. A second blur followed him, catching up to the first one as both approached the large party that had come to the construction site.

"Hinata, how has your day been so far?" Naruto asked energetically, hugging her.

"It would be better if you would relax. I'm worried that you'll overwork yourself." She said, pulling out of the hug. "And you're covered in sweat too. Have you taken a break yet?" Everyone smiled as they watched Hinata worry over Naruto so much.

"I'll take one in a couple of hours." Naruto promised. "Did you say that they've arrived?" Neji caught up with Naruto and Hinata.

"Cousin Neji?!" Hanabi exclaimed, shocked at seeing her cousin there so happy and content. Neji smiled and nodded. "I like the new you!" She said and ran to him, giving him a big hug. Gai whistled, impressed at seeing Neji actually smile, a true, genuine smile.

"I like the new me too." Neji agreed. "Can I call you just Hanabi or would you still prefer me address you as Lady Hanabi as we did in Konoha?"

"Just Hanabi. We're no longer a part of the Hyuuga Clan." She insisted. "Can I still call you Neji?" Neji nodded.

"There's someone who wants to meet you. Hinata, if it's alright with you, I'll take her to meet Toushiro and get her settled in at the house." Neji said. "Where's your stuff?" Anko handed Neji Hanabi's bag. "We have a room ready for you."

"If Hanabi wants to." Hinata said. "Which I presume she does." Hanabi eagerly nodded. Neji and Hanabi left, leaving Hinata alone with the others who had come from Konoha. "She's matured since I left. She beat Ganzo?"

"I heard it was a pretty intense." Anko said. "Hiashi Hyuuga was furious when she won, but he had given his word that if she won, she could go live with you. She was ready to leave the next day, her goodbyes said and everything. She's quite a tough young lady. So, Naruto, what chaos are planning on pulling next? Or was all the pranks you did just to hide the fact that you were a genius?" Anko asked with a laugh.

"It was mostly to hide how smart I was." Naruto admitted. "Screw it, I'll take my break now."

"Naruto-sama, we got the rest of the day covered. How about you take the rest of the day off and relax?" The site foreman called out. Hinata looked at Naruto with pleading eyes, knowing that this would be the only thing able to convince him to take the foreman's offer.

"Oh, allright!" Naruto said in submission, unable to beat Hinata's puppy dog eyes. "Let's hang out at your place though Hinata."

"Alright." Hinata agreed happily. "I'll make sure that you eat there too." Naruto pretended to groan, which didn't fool Hinata one bit. "You know you love my cooking. Hanabi might be hungry too. I'll make her something to eat too." Hinata decided quickly.


	17. Welcome to Shinsei no Sato!

Okay, this chapter will mark the official first day of Shinsei no Sato. One note about the leadership of this village. There will be no clans. Naruto and the others decided against this, judging from how Konoha ended up with clans. Of course, only two of them got really bad, but they don't want to take the chance. Instead of the council being made up of clans, there will be dojos, one for each type of jutsu. Everyone who shows the ability can learn no matter who they are, leaving no restrictions on marriage too. This idea came not from me, but from the author soundless steps. I'll explain in more detail in the actual chapter.

--

"Naruto, come on." Hinata said excitedly, dragging Naruto out of the house. "We're gonna be late if you keep going this slow." she scolded playfully. Today was the 'grand opening', so to say, of their village. And for once she had changed out of her usual outfit, instead wearing a black pair of shorts and a white tank top, with black fishnet under there. Her long hair was still hanging loose.

"I'm coming." Naruto said, himself dressed differently as well. He wore the traditional hakama pants, white ones like Toushiro wore, with a baggy formal shirt on top. His robe that had been made by Kushina went over that.

The village had taken another month to finish completely, including a few extra buildings that had been decided on at the last minute. It looked like a good village, something which they knew was important, as many of the feudal lords and other village leaders had come as well. Naruto was ushered into a pavilion that had been set up for him to wait in until it was time for him to make his appearance. Outside, he heard the excited chatter as the guests talked tried to guess what the village leader would be like.

"After all, he apparently left his village as a freelance ninja. But he wasn't that well known. He literally almost popped out of nowhere." A excited female said. "But I have heard rumors that he's connected to Konoha somehow. But no one here will say anything, saying that their pasts no longer matter, that they're here to be here themselves without any social restrictions."

The speaker passed by and Naruto waited until Hinata came to get him. "We're almost ready to start." Hinata said. "Ready?"

"Yep, I'm ready to go." Naruto said evenly, inwardly excited at the path that he was finally going to start walking down. "You ready for this Hinata?"

"Of course. Even if I wasn't, I'd still go with you where you go." Hinata said, slipping an arm into his. She had put on a summer yukata over her clothes for the event that was to happen for the rest of the day.

"Look, there he is!" Voices exclaimed as Hinata and Naruto emerged. Naruto saw many familiar faces in the crowd. Gaara and his siblings sat in the corner, all wearing semi-formal clothing. He grinned as Gaara waved at him. From Konoha, he saw a larger delegation. Tsunade and Shizune smiled as they saw him. But Naruto also saw the heads of the clans from Konoha, including Hiashi. Hiashi was the only one who looked unhappy to be here, something Naruto couldn't blame him for. Shinsei no Sato, as a village, had claimed both of his only daughters and heirs.

"Naruto, I see you finally got around to letting us know how you were all doing." Tsunade said as she and Shizune walked up. "It looks like you'll be fine. Though Hiashi is not all that happy being here."

"I don't blame him." Naruto said. "After all, not only did Hinata come with me, Hanabi also joined us. We took away his only two direct heirs, even though they came here of their own wills." Hiashi walked away from the main celebration, scowling at everyone else enjoying the celebration. "It's going to take time for my village and Hiashi's clan to become friends, if we can at all."

"Naruto!" Gaara said, running up to greet his friend. "Or should I be saying Naruto-sama now, since we're both the leaders of our villages now?"

"Naruto is just fine." Naruto said, pulling Gaara into a hug. "I'm glad you all came. How are you and your siblings?"

"We're doing just fine." Temari said cheerfully, wearing a red and blue yukata and twirling a decorative umbrella in her hands. "After we heard what you had done, we were surprised, to say the least. But it looks like you're finally on the right path. How are you liking your life here?"

"We're free here." Naruto said. "Not only free, but happy. We hope to openly welcome all who have the same dream that we founded this village off of. The former Konoha twelve are now here too, with the exception of two of them. Though it will be awhile until Konoha is ready to accept and adknowledge us. Hinata and I threw the village into chaos when we left and upset a lot of the clans in the process."

"But we're here now and able to deal with anything that comes our way." Hinata promised optimistically. "We have a lot of strong friends here, most of whom are experienced enough to give us good guidance. Not to mention I have Naruto and vice versa." She said, kissing him lightly on the lips. "I'm going to go socialize. Behave yourself." Hinata teased, pulling her arm from his slowly.

"Watch out for your father." Naruto warned, looking worried. "He doesn't look very happy being here." Hinata nodded and joined some of the people standing in a circle talking.

"Hiashi had to. The village is still strong despite how many of us left to come here. But we still have to make appearances." Tsunade said grumpily. "He is not happy about this at all, and clearly voiced that to me. But in the end, I had to order him here. But the rest of the clans are open to all of this."

"Naruto, how will the village run?" Shizune asked. "Obviously you're the leader. But will there just be clans? Or something else entirely?"

"We all talked about it." Naruto began. "There won't be clans, but, simply put, dojos. A dojo has been assigned to each type of jutsu: Medical, taijutsu, genjutsu, and kenjutsu and ninjutsu have been combined into one. I'll also be on the council, making a total of five jutsus represented. Genjutsu and the kenjutsu and ninjutsu both have two representatives. Both representatives both only have one vote only though. They'll need to agree on one thing otherwise their vote can't be counted."

"Naruto-sama also has said that all who want to learn can learn, as long as they show the potential. So no one can be barred from a dojo based on heritage." Toushiro said as he walked up. "I'm sorry for interrupting, Naruto-sama. My name is Toushiro, formerly of the branch family of the Hyuuga family."

"Naruto, what's up with Neji over there?" Temari asked, pointing to Neji, who was sitting with Ten-ten, smiling as he teased her playfully. "I don't recall ever seeing him so care free and happy."

"Simply put, Neji has been reborn." Naruto answered cheerfully. "Just like the name of this village suggests. We've all been reborn as a free and new person. Hinata and I were the first to be reborn and it spread, until we are as we are now. Here, the past doesn't matter."

"Naruto!" Someone called as she ran up. It was Hanabi, who looked ready to cry. "It's sister! Father is with her and it looks like this could get bad." Ten-ten looked over as she heard this from nearby.

"Crap!" Naruto swore. "Toushiro, Neji, come with me. There may be some trouble with Hiashi. Tsunade, would you be willing to come too? He is one of yours." Neji and Toushiro ran up, serious look on their faces. Ten-ten kneeled down next to the much younger girl, having followed Neji over.

"I'll calm Hanabi down." Ten-ten said. "You go see if Hinata needs any help. Hanabi, where are they?" Hanabi pointed to where two shapes were, one looking like they were being held against their will.

"Thanks. Come on." Naruto ordered, heading quickly to where Hiashi and Hinata were quickly coming into focus. Everybody stopped to see what the problem was. "Lee, Ino, can you get some crowd control here? We don't need this publicized anymore than it already is." Lee and Ino nodded, gathering some nearby Shinsei ninja's and urging them all to go back to the party.

"Go away demon brat!"Hiashi ordered. "This is Hyuuga Clan business and we're free to run our clans as we see fit."

"Wrong!" Naruto thundered. "Hinata is part of this village now and as such, you have no such authority over her, as she has left your clan. Tsunade has acknowledged this. Also, that applies only in Konoha. Even if she wasn't a ninja from Shinsei no Sato, you have no authority here. The dojo leaders and I hold the power around here. Toushiro is one of those leaders. It's you who will be taking my orders and letting her go."

"You." Hiashi said, dangerously low, glaring at Toushiro and Neji. "Toushiro and Neji are here. As they have the seals on their head, I have power over them." He made a handsign. Both Neji and Toushiro didn't even flinch. "Why aren't you two feeling any pain?!" Hiashi demanded.

"Show him." Naruto ordered coldly.

"Yes, Naruto-sama." Toushiro said removing his bandanna from his forehead, showing the faded seal. "You no longer have any power over us with that handsign. We're free. Now release Lady Hinata now please." Hiashi didn't answer, only tightening his grip on Hinata's wrist.

Tsunade glanced at Naruto meaningfully. He got the message. _Be ready. _Naruto showed no sign of acknowledgement, though Tsunade knew that he had gotten the message. As one, Tsunade and Naruto strolled up.

"Hiashi, let her go. That's an order from me, your Hokage." Tsunade ordered.

"No, she is still a member of my clan. She's coming back to the clan with me, as are the rest of the Hyuuga's here." Hiashi insisted.

"You had your chance." Tsunade stated calmly, suddenly punching Hiashi in the face. Hiashi let go of Hinata in shock. Naruto was already prepared to catch her and caught her, holding her protectively to his side, ready to do anything necessary to protect her. "Hinata is no longer under your jurisdiction. As such you cannot order her around anymore. You have risked threatening the relationship between Konoha and Shinsei and disobeyed a direct order from your leader. When we get back to Konoha, you _will _be punished for this."

"Tsunade, I'm afraid I can't have him running free in the party any longer." Naruto said gravely. "He attacked one of my people. I will have him escorted to a secure location and kept under guard. He's not allowed to leave until he leaves with you. I won't hold this against Konoha, but I will hold this against him. Are there any objections?"

"No, there aren't. Do you have the people to watch him or should I ask a few of my people to do it?" Tsunade said.

"Neji, go find Raita and Danston and tell them that they have guard duty for the time being. I'll send someone to relief them soon." Naruto ordered. Neji nodded and ran off. "Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto asked. "If he hurt you..."

"I'm fine." Hinata assured. "I think he may have sprained my wrist, but I'll be fine, promise. I'll ask Hiriko to heal it later. So don't lose your temper. Please." She begged softly, her head now on his shoulder.

"Only for you." Naruto swore. "If it had been anyone else he had hurt, I would not have held back."

"Hinata, I'll see if your wrist needs healing." Tsunade volunteered. Hinata held out her arm, which was shaking. Her father had really shaken her up. Tsunade's hands glowed green for a second and Hinata's hand stopped hurting. "How's that?"

"It's good now." Hinata said. "Thank you. But I would like to get back to the party now."

"Of course." Naruto said, taking her arm and escorting her back to the party, hearing some loud raoucous noises going on somewhere in the middle of the area they were hosting the party. "It seems like Anko has been doing her own version of crowd control." Naruto noted with a grin, wondering whether he wanted to know.

They joined the crowd and they were not quite sure how to react. Anko was causing a huge distraction by starting an eating contest. Three people sat at a long table. Anko sat at the end, devouring plate after plate of food, giving those who were providing her food break out sweating at the pace she was eating. It was no shock to see Chouji next to her, devouring food at an even faster pace than Anko. And at the other end of the table sat Yukizaki, who was being cheered on by his sister Omamari.

"Come on Yukizaki! You can do it!" She yelled, listening to the majority of the crowd cheer on all of the contestants.

"What's the prize?" Hinata asked cheerfully as she watched.

"Ah, Lady Hinata." Someone said, revealing it to be one of the village leaders. "They didn't quite set a prize for the winner. They said they would state what they wanted as a prize afterwards."

"Thank you for telling me, Raikage-sama." Hinata said with a smile, already over what had just happened. "Are you enjoying this so far? Though truth be told, we weren't expecting for something like this to happen. It seems that Anko-sensei brings forth the unexpected in her wake."

"It's been a lot of fun." The Raikage admitted. "There are so many people who expected this to be a bore. But it's actually very nice to have something like this happen once in a while. May I ask a favor of you and Naruto-sama?"

"But of course. If we can help, we can." Hinata promised.

"I have a trio of young orphans who are having trouble adjusting to life without their parents, who just died in an accident. If they want to, can they come here? I think that this would be a good place for them."

"Of course." Naruto said, taking his eyes from the table. "We may even find people here willing to adopt them. After all, we all stick together around here. So far we only have one young person, Hinata's sister Hanabi. She'll love the company of other kids around her age."

"Tomorrow at the official first meeting, we'll see who we can find to take them in." Hinata promised. "We'll send word to you once we find a place for them to stay."

"Thank you. I truly think that this place can change the known world. Maybe we can become allies? What do you say? We'll help you with anything that we can." The Raikage proposed. "I think there would benefits for both sides."

"I'll have to present this at the meeting tomorrow, though I can tell you that this sounds highly favorable. We'll also send word about this when we find homes for these kids should they want to come." Naruto told the Raikage. "Ooh, it looks like Chouji won. No surprise there. I would be shocked if he lost."

--

This story may sound like a little close to ending. But it's not, I promise. Also, this will be the last update for a few days. I'm leaving tomorrow on a three day trip. In the meantime, check out the poll on my profile. It's to decide who Anko should be paired with if I do a pairing with her. People have asked me to both a AnkoKakashi pairing and AnkoIruka one too. So I'm leaving this up to the readers.


	18. The Three Siblings Arrive

"Naruto, it's time for a break. And the kids will be arriving from Lightning Country soon. You said you wanted to meet them at the gate when they arrived." A feminine voice said. A lot had happened since the party that had marked their opening. Regular meetings were held between the dojos and Naruto. Sometimes this took awhile, as the person who was the representative had to talk with those under his command just as reguraly. Kakashi had gone back to Konoha for some personal business and had asked for permission to stay there. Naruto had allowed this because he had only been ordered to stay with them while the village was being formed. Iruka had come from Konoha in his place and was quickly creating a system for learning, as they would not be doing the traditional academy.

"Thanks Iono." Naruto said. Iono was one of those who had helped him form this village from the beginning. Iono had admitted to Naruto that she preferred jobs like this, equally important, but not as stressful as regular missions as the others preferred. And he had quickly proved that he had needed someone like her to keep him on task and to keep him on schedule as well. "How about you take the afternoon off? Since I'll be taking the afternoon off to see them settled."

"I could use a break." Iono admitted guiltily, smiling all the same. "This is a big job. But my job must be easy compared to yours."

"No, it's not." Naruto agreed with a laugh. "But someone had to do it. So here I am. Do you happen to know how Iruka-sensei is doing on that educational system? I hope he realizes that it'll be changing as more people arrive, as will how this place's rules and leadership work."

"Iruka has already considered that. Which reminds me that more ninja have arrived seeking to become ninja of this place. I told them that you'll be free to see them sometimes tomorrow and to stay in one place, as I don't know when that will be." Iono told him.

"I'm heading to the gate. Contact all who are interested in joining us and tell them to come to my office at two tomorrow afternoon." Naruto commanded. Iono nodded. "And tell them that I'm sorry that I have to wait so long to meet them. But it's out of the question until then thanks to my schedule tomorrow."

"Of course, Naruto-sama." Iono answered, cleaning off her mesky desk quickly.

"What would this place be without you?" Naruto asked playfully as he left. He smiled, knowing that Iono was happy. And not only was she happy, she was honest with him, something that he liked in those under him. But ranks in this village were pretty much only for ceremony and giving orders. At all other times, everyone was equal, including him. That didn't mean though that he wasn't treated more formally than the others.

His hand fell to his side and he felt the box that he there still safe and sound. It was a ring. Right now he was trying to sum up the courage to propose to Hinata. And that felt so much more challenging than simply beating down some of the guys he had done in the past. He was glad also that Tsunade had gotten Hiashi Hyuga under control.

Hiashi Hyuga had his position in the council of Konoha revoked until he was deemed in enough control of himself. In punishing Hiashi, his clan was suffering a bit. Their position in power had gone down a bit. But many had considered this a good thing, as most of the cocky members of that clan had become a lot more humble, treating the branch part of the clan more as equals and comrades, not as simply cannonfodder as they had before.

Even worse, he had lost his position as clan head and been forced to accept the caged bird seal. It had taken a lot of fighting and yelling, but he had been forced to let them brand him with the seal and let himself be banished into the branch family. Someone who was nicer and who cared more about the family as a whole had filled the position. He had arranged for the caged bird seal to be made inactive on those who wanted it, except for the troublemakers in the clan, who still bore their seal as a way to keep them under control.

"Naruto, this is so perfect!" Hinata exclaimed happily as he finally approached the gate. "Not only have our lifes become good, but others have as well because of our actions. And the three kids who will be staying with us, I can't wait to meet them. I'm just glad they just able to stay together. I read the file the Raikage sent us. I hope they'll be able to find where they belong soon."

"They'll be free to return to Lightning Country should they choose to. Of course, they're welcome here too." Naruto promised. "If we can help these guys in anyway, they'll get that help. I was alone for a long time, but I think I can at least understand some of their feelings."

"Satoru, the oldest, will also will probably feel responsible for the two younger ones, especially little Misaki. Her picture was so adorable." Hinata said sweetly, eagerly looking to the gate again, wanting to see her young friends and charges visible. And this time, they were, unlike the past twenty or thirty times she had looked before and they had not been visible. "Look, they're visible!" Naruto grinned as the three kids approached with their escort from Shinsei. They had sent a team out there to personally pick the kids up and bring them back here.

Hiriko, Toushiro, and Lee had gone to pick them up, bringing a small cart with them. This was to hold everyone's belongings and to pull the kids in when they got tired. And as they approached, the cart kicking up dust as it got closer, everyone who had assembled at the gate, a little over half a dozen people, saw their charges more closely.

Satoru, ten years old, was the oldest brother. He kept his long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing travel worn clothes. One hand was not visible, probably holding onto Misaki's hand, as she was sitting next to him. Misaki was only two years old. Shoulder length hair was put into pigtails, green eyes reflecting the sun. And Diashi was the middle child, eight, a protective looking in his brown eyes, but he kept his hair short. He also wore travel worn clothes. But Misaki wore a brightly colored dress and was smiling as she saw the village.

"Bro-da, we here?" The little girl asked as the cart stopped. "Hungry."

"Yes, Misaki, we're here." The oldest boy replied with a smile. "I know you're hungry. I'll do what I can to find good food for all of us. Remember what Raikage-sama told us? We may be able to find our path's here. But should we not be happy, we're free to go back no problem. We're also going to stick together." He picked up the little girl and stepped out of the cart, quickly followed by his brother. The three walked over to Hinata and Naruto.

"Pretty eyes." Misaki said happily as she saw Hinata. Hinata smiled.

"I'm Naruto. And this is Hinata. Welcome to Shinsei." Naruto said jovially. "I hope the trip went well."

"I'm Satoru. My youngest brother is Daishi. And my little sister here is Misaki. Thank you for giving us a chance here." Satoru said with a deep bow. Misaki laughed sillily as she was brought back up. "I'm sorry though if things are a bit arkward for awhile. But we really do appreciate this."

Hinata bent down until she was eye level with Misaki. "So you think my eyes are pretty? Thank you." Hinata said joyfully. "My name is Hinata. It's nice to meet you Misaki." She said, holding out a hand. Misaki shook it. "It's nice to meet all of you. We were looking forward to meeting you three." Misaki giggled again and practically jumped into Hinata's arms.

"Oops." Hinata said softly as she caught the little girl.

"I like you. We friends?" Misaki begged with puppy dog eyes.

"If you want to be. I know that I would like to be considered friends with you guys." Hinata promised. Misaki engulfed Hinata in a hug. A yawn was heard and the little girl promptly fell asleep. "Sorry Satoru. I didn't mean to take you and your brother's place. But how would you three like to move to the house? We can all eat and relax. We can lay her down for a nap as well."

"It's no problem." Satoru said. "If she has taken a liking to you, that's fine. But we would like to move to the house."

Naruto approached Daishi. "Hey, you ready to relax?" He asked coolly. Naruto saw a bit of himself in this boy for some reason. Naruto looked at the boy's chakra. He was good with ninjutsu and had wind natured chakra. And a lot of it. "You're better with ninjutsu over the other style of jutsu's aren't you?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah, how could you tell?" Daishi asked in awe.

"Special eyes. You also have wind natured chakra, just like me. But do you have any problems with chakra control? I see that you have a lot of it."

"I'm not as good as my brother." Diashi admitted sadly. "He says this doesn't matter and helps me the best he can, but I still feel kinda worthless next to him. I just don't have his skill." Naruto looked at Satoru and saw that he had earth natured chakra and was better at taijutsu naturally. "He's really strong too, despite his age. But I just don't compare to him, or many people in Lightning Country. I just want to be acdknowledged."

"Are you trying to be yourself or him? That has a lot to do with it I think." Daishi looked up in wonder at this. "Above all, we should be ourselves and make the best we can out of it. We have a lot of people here who are willing to help you in any way they can. Maybe we can take you by the ninjutsu dojo. We have many people there who know many type of ninjutsu. If you show that you have the skill and drive to learn, they'll teach you. Maybe even show you ways to help with your chakra control. When we get the chance I'll show you something that helped me with mine."

"Really?!" He asked, almost bouncing up and down. Naruto nodded. "Yes! The only thing that would make this better is ramen!" Naruto laughed.

"Tomorrow I'll show you a really cool place. In my original village, we had this little place called Icharaku's. They made the best ramen around. Tomorrow is the grand opening of the one here. I'll take you as my guest if you want." Naruto promised. Diashi could barely speak he was so excited at this, so he only nodded. "Of course, everyone was invited to this. So you could also go by yourself if you wanted. But the guy said he would give me the first bowl and a guest if I wanted to bring one."

"Wow." Diashi said. "Not only this, but your eyes! Can you tell Misaki's chakra type?" Naruto shook his head.

"I can't read her chakra until she learns how to access it." Naruto answered sadly. "This ability may have many uses, but it has one or two drawbacks as well. Unless they know how to access it and is able to use it even to the smallest extent, this special ability is useless. Though that's not the only unusual ability that I have. But that can wait until tomorrow. Let's go get some food. Hinata's a really good cook."

"Alright. Let's." Diashi said excitedly.


	19. Take Me As Your Student!

Sorry about the wait. I thought the story was done for some reason and then remembered that Naruto still hadn't proposed. He he he. Sorry. And if it's kind of short, I apologize for that as well.

Chapter 19

"Hi-na-ta." Misaki said slowly. It was taking the little girl her a little while to learn how to pronounce Hinata's name probably. This was understandable, but Misaki insisted on learning to say it properly.

"Very good Misaki. Want to go play outside?" Misaki jumped up and down. Hinata offered her a hand and Misaki took it. Hinata was watching Misaki for the day. Satoru was off at the taijutsu dojo checking that out. Daishi was out with Naruto, attending the grand opening of the ramen restaurant, Ichiraku's.

"Swing! Swing!" Misaki said cheerfully, pointing to the swing that Toushiro had set up for Hanabi, who often just sat there thinking. Hanabi had also been charmed by the little girl and had told Misaki she could swing on it any time she wanted to as long as she was careful. Hinata smiled and lifted the small child into the swing. "Swing! Swing!" Misaki said again. Hinata began to push Misaki lightly. With each dip and rise she laughed and giggled.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Diashi were waiting at the counter at Icharaku's. Several of the ninja had looked forward to this day and were sitting at the other tables almost impatiently. "Ah, here we go, Naruto-sama, young Daishi." The man, a cousin of Teuchi, who was in charge of the booth in Konoha, was named Kaida. He ran the place with his wife and daughter.

Grinning, they both thanked Kaida for the meal and broke their chopsticks apart. They both slurped in a large amount of noodles. "Delicious!" They said as one. Everyone laughed and Isa and Kita, Kaida's wife and daughter, took everyone's order. Everyone was soon happily eating their own ramen.

"Hey, Naruto, how will you help me control my chakra?" Daishi asked inbetween slurps.

"It's something that I was shown when trying to learn one of my current jutsu's the Rasengan." Naruto told Diashi. "We'll need a lot of leaves though. The goal is to split a leaf using only your chakra. The way I had been told was this: "Sharp and thin". This was from a fellow ninja who had wind natured chakra, one of the few in Konoha with that kind of chakra."

"So I'm guessing that it worked." Daishi said happily. "You said something about having other unusual abilities besides your eyes. What did you mean?"

"I also have heightened senses. And not just one, all of them." Daishi looked amazed. "But that's not always cool though. Can you imagine some of the stuff I can't help but smell?" Daishi grimaced.

"I would rather not. So when can we start training?" He asked eagerly.

"I'm free this afternoon. And Satoru is hanging out at the taijutsu dojo. Misaki is probably swinging still. She loves that thing." Daishi grinned.

"Say, are you and Hinata married? You two really are in love." Daishi said as he happily finished the last of his ramen.

"Well, I'm waiting for the right moment to ask her to marry me." Naruto confessed. "We were made for each other. In fact, before we left our village, I had said I wouldn't leave without her." He ran a hand through his tousled blonde hair. "So, you wanna start now?" Naruto didn't need to hear an answer. Daishi's eyes said it all. Naruto left the bill with a tip on the counter.

Naruto led Daishi out into the forest near the village. They stopped by a waterfall surrounded by many trees. "We'll come out here every few days to gather fresh leaves. But we'll practice in the village. Today though, we'll enjoy nature." He demonstated how he cut leaves with his chakra. "Remember, thin and sharp as possible."

Daishi set to the task given to him but didn't made much progress over the next two hours. "It will take time. If not for my shadow clones, it would have taken me a lot longer."

"You can make shadow clones?" Daishi exclaimed. Naruto nodded. "Wow, so cool. What other stuff can you do? You must know some amazing jutsu's." Naruto smirked and formed a rasengan in his right hand. "The rasengan?!" Daishi's eyes were wide.

"Watch." He said simply, smashing the rasengan into a nearby dying tree. The tree was now marked by a spiral burn mark. "That's a fancy technique, which usually takes time to form. But I know another, much easier way to give yourself an advantage in battle." He pulled out two kunai's. He threw a normal one straight into the tree trunk, where it was immediatelly halted. "Now simply run your chakra through the weapon first and throw it." Naruto ran chakra through the blade and threw it at the same tree. It went through three trees and finally stopped in a rock, still leaving the rock with a huge fracture mark.

"No way." Daishi pronounced faintly.

"If you simply pay attention to what you see, you'd be amazed at what you can learn." Naruto told Daishi simply. "It's the power of observation which makes a ninja strong, even if they are physically weaker than the opponent."

"Please, take me as your student!" Daishi begged, bowing. Naruto stared at the boy for a brief second before ruffling his hair. "Sensei..."

Naruto smirked. "If you insist." Naruto said playfully. "Do you insist?"

"Of course!" Daishi swore. "Try to get rid of me!" Naruto noted the challenge.

"It looks like Misaki is going to stick to Hinata like glue, though she might stick to anyone with her kind of eyes. And Satoru apparently will stick to the taijutsu dojo in the same way." Naruto told him. "It'll be tough. But I think you'll be able to handle it."

"I'll do my best." Daishi promised before yelling out loudly "YES!!" for all of Shinsei to hear.


	20. Finally Making the Move!

It was peaceful in Shinsei that day. Naruto had gone home for lunch, having just given permission for some more wandering ninja to join the village, telling Iono to see them situated. He was stopped by Iruka as he walked out of his office. "Iruka-sensei, how can I help you?" He asked cheerfully.

"In Konoha, they had regulations against this. But I was wondering if it would be okay for Anko and I to date. We always have liked each other." Iruka asked.

"Of course." Naruto replied cheerily. "We're here to be free. I hope you and Anko-sensei find the same happiness that Hinata and I have found." Iruka's face split into a grin and ran to tell Anko this. "Good luck!" Naruto called after the happy chuunin.

He went to his house and made himself some lunch. Kushina was one of the heads of the ninjutsu dojo and was at work there, helping Daishi with learning a new technique and with his chakra control as well. Hinata was probably at the taijutsu temple, Misaki with her older brother.

"Naruto." Hinata said flirtatiously from his couch as he entered. "You need to take a break."

"But I am. I came here for lunch." Naruto told her. Hinata sighed and pulled him onto the couch next to the her. "I just misunderstood something didn't I?" Hinata nodded and kissed him.

"Can we go out tonight? Just to have a change of pace?" She asked. "Maybe a nice dinner and some entertainment?" She hinted softly. "I know that some of the others are planning a firework's show right now, after it gets dark of course. I could get some snacks togethor as well." Naruto didn't take long to decide.

"Everyone will probably be there anyway." Naruto admitted. He slipped his arm around her waist. A clunk followed that motion. Hinata looked down and picked up the small velvet box that had fallen from Naruto's pocket. She was about to open it before Naruto quickly slipped the box from her hand and opened it, showing her the ring within.

He slipped down onto one knee and took her hand. "My love, Hinata, will you marry me? I've never loved anyone as much as I love you. And I don't think I ever will love anyone else more than I do now. The only thing that could make my life any happier, perfect as it is, is to know for a fact that I will spend the rest of it with you by my side as my wife."

Hinata's eyes went wide as she turned a shade of red that perfectly matched the red roses her sister planted at their house. Her eyes rolled back and she went limp. Startled, Naruto caught her and laid her down on the couch. He grabbed a nearby empty folder and fanned her gently until she stirred. "It's been awhile since you've done that." He said teasingly. "So before you pass out again, what do you say?"

"Really?" Hinata asked faintly. Naruto nodded.

"There's no one else in this world that completes me as you do." Hinata held out a trembling hand and Naruto slipped the diamond ring onto her right ring finger. He picked up and spun her around in the air, her long hair coming out from the braids she had it in and going everywhere. Smiling widely, never having felt so happy in his life, which was saying something, he finally sat down, pulling his now fiance into his lap securely. Her head came down and their foreheads gently touched.

"I'm so happy." She gushed, a few tears hitting his lap. "I didn't ever think that you would propose though."

"I was waiting for the right time." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "But when the ring fell out of my pocket, I could tell you were about to start thinking something was up. So I jumped in, knowing that the right time had come." This time Hinata initiated the kiss. "Nothing will stop us from being togethor now, not that anything could before."

"Hey, what are two love birds doing in my house?" Kushina questioned teasingly, seeing them as they were on the couch as she walked in to make her own lunch.

"Well, I was planning on making my lunch. But that turned into a proposal, which Hinata said yes to." Naruto explained, turning to face Kushina with a huge smile. "Though she did pass out again, something she hasn't done in a long time, years actually."

"Naruto!" Hinata said blushing, her head falling to his shoulder to hide her red face. Naruto laughed and brushed her hair from her face. "Why do you feel that it's necessary to make me blush?"

"Because you when you're blushing is so cute." Naruto assured, making her blush even harder. Kushina shook her head and made lunch for three people, figuring Naruto and Hinata would probably be in a flirty mood for the rest of the day at the rate they were going and they might not want to get up and eat.

--

It was later that night and all of the village sat in the large field that rested in the back of their village. But their eyes were not at ground level. All of the watchers were craning their necks and looking upward as a huge firework's show went off in the night sky. "This is so cool." Hinata said, awestruck at the displays. The ones who had arranged for this had held nothing back. "And they had good timing as well."

"That they did." Naruto agreed. "A perfect start for our engagement. When do you want the wedding?"

"Autumn. And I'd love it to be outside too, in a area full of trees. And the kids should be there too. Misaki would be a perfect flower girl." Hinata stopped talking, most likely caught up in a daydream. Naruto looked at her peaceful expression and couldn't help but smile, his eyes going down to her hand, where the simple diamond ring sat on her finger. Peace filled his soul and mind as he gazed upon his beautiful fiance. A small smile was creeping onto her face now.

"Naruto, is it true?" Hanabi asked as she walked up. Her eyes fell onto Hinata's hand and she saw the ring there. "You two are engaged. "Yay! You'll be my brother in law. I'm glad you two are happy. She deserves this."

"Yes, she does." Neji seconded from behind Hanabi, seeing his cousin in such a blissful state, her head on Naruto's shoulder. "I heard you fought for her when Toushiro challenged you to see if you were good enough to be her consort. I'd gladly do the same for Ten-ten."

"Now, folks, for the finally. This particular set of fireworks goes out to a specific couple. They just got engaged this afternoon." Ikaruga declared. "Give it up for our free spirited leader and his lovely fiance, Naruto-sama and Hinata-sama!" Everyone gasped and then cheered.

Hinata snapped from her daydream with a blush. "Hinata, you lucky girl!" Ino practically screamed as she ran over and hugged her tightly. "You are so lucky. I wish I had someone special like Naruto in my life. Naruto, you had better treat my girl right."

"I would never dream of hurting Hinata. I would be hurting myself as well." Naruto told her, taking her hand. She smiled and they kissed.

"Sensei, you finally made the move!" Daishi said excitedly as the couple broke away from the kiss.

"Sensei?" Hinata asked. "When did this happen?"

"A few days ago." Daishi told her proudly. "He accepted me as his student then. Oh, and my siblings and I have talked about it. We want to stay here."

"Of course you'll all be welcome to stay." Naruto said cheerily. "We'll all be one, large, happy family. From now until the end." Daishi whooped.

"Does that mean you'll teach me some of your jutsu?" Daishi asked sneakily. Naruto started at that, giving everyone a laugh.

"We'll see." Naruto promised. "All my jutsu's are of a really high level. One I can only do thanks to Kitsune. And the Rasengan needs a lot of chakra manipulation. Maybe the shadow clone's. That's a possibility. They're dead useful at times." Daishi whooped. "But I'm not making any promises yet."

"Look, the fireworks!" Hinata exclaimed. The fireworks had been made to appear as shapes like flowers and even bells. "Wow! I wonder how they did that. But you must admit that it's cool." Misaki crawled up into Naruto's lap.

"Daddy become one with mommy?" She asked innocently. Everyone froze as she spoke. Naruto started to shake. "What wrong?" She asked, looking ready to cry.

"It's not you, promise." Naruto said fondly, ruffling the girls long hair. "You just startled me, that's all. All I ask you to do is this. Remember that your real parents are in heaven now, though I'd be more than willing to be a parent figure in your life." She giggled and looked back up at the fireworks excitedly.

"We have such a bright future." Toushiro commented, looking from Naruto and Hinata, with Misaki curled up in Naruto's lap, looking up in wonder at the fireworks, to Anko and Iruka nearby, also smiling and holding hands. "And it'll be Naruto-sama and Hinata-sama who will lead the way to that future."


	21. The Results of Boredom

"Urg, girls." Naruto complained the day after he had finally found the right moment to propose. "I can understand that they want to talk to Hinata about the wedding plans. But does that mean I need to be kicked out of the house as well? The wedding's not for awhile now." He sighed, figuring he mine as well get some ramen until he could get back in. "I don't care if I have to crawl in through a window to do that either."

"Naruto-sama, a message bird from Konoha has arrived." Iono said as she ran up to him, a hawk on a bracer resting on her arm. Naruto carefully removed the scroll from the holster on the bird's back.

"See that the bird rests tonight and we'll see it off in the morning. There or may not be a reply message." Naruto ordered. Iono nodded and took the bird to the office. An area for message birds had been set up at the top of the building.

Curious, he now unrolled the scroll and read the message contained within it.

_Naruto,_

_Tsunade here. Hiashi Hyuuga has heard of your engagement to Hinata somehow already. This was news to us. Anyways, he wants to attend the wedding and to walk his eldest daughter down the aisle. We stopped him from leaving right away to await your response. He's been behaving lately. It's probably the fact that he's found that he can never again take leadership of the Hyuuga Clan. We'd appreciate a fast response._

_Tsunade_

"Guess I have to go into the office anyway. Thought I would avoid that today." Naruto said to himself with a laugh, heading back to his house to talk with Hinata about this. Hinata quickly gave her permission, adding that she wanted someone from the main family with him just in case. After that he was promptly kicked out again.

"Raita, that won't exactly help the situation." Naruto commented, pausing by where the huge man was skulking around the corner.

"I'm watching out for her." Raita said as an excuse. "She's never had a special someone. If he hurts her, it'll be his head coming off his shoulders." Naruto knew exactly what Raita was talking about. Kimara had been spending a lot of time with Lee lately. They had been seen all over the village doing a multitude of things. Ice cream, ramen, just walking around, and even a picnic or two. This time they were eating ice cream.

"Raita, you may be as good as her big brother, but she needs her space. Besides, Lee will never hurt her. I can promise you that. Lee was raised a gentleman and his jounin instructor enforced that." Naruto told Raita. "And Kimara is too smart for that to happen anyway. How are things at the dojo?"

"They're going good." Raita replied. "The students are capable and have the strength necessary for the training. They don't make any excuses either." Naruto grinned.

"Well, that's good. Anyway, I need to get to the office to write a letter. Good luck." He wished, referring both to the dojo and the two people he was currently spying on.

Naruto reached his office. He quickly penned a response to Tsunade's message now.

_Tsunade,_

_Got your message. As long as he has good intentions, Hinata and I will be glad to have him at the wedding. Though the wedding isn't until sometime in autumn. When we have a final date, we'll send further word. Until then, he's not to come here. And when he does come, we would like someone from the Main Branch to formally escort him here just in case. That's the only way he'll be allowed to even come to the wedding. I was wondering about something as well. Usually it's the village leader who does a ninja's wedding, right? Well, who should do the ceremony for Hinata and I? I'm the village leader and can't exactly do the ceremony _and _get married at the same ceremony._

_Naruto_

He sealed the message and placed it in the outbox on his desk. Thankfully he had finished all of his paperwork for the next few days. He still had to come in for a few hours each day though, just in case. But he did thoroughly understand Tsunade's hatred for paperwork. He grinned looking up to the ceiling of his office. Several boards of wood had been installed there, each with with a target painted on the front. When he was bored he used them for target practice. Iono had walked in one day and dropped the paperwork in her hands, something he still laughed about.

_Flashback_

_"Naruto-sam-" Iono said, abruptly stopping, a big stack of paperwork in her hands falling to the floor around her feet. _

_Naruto was leaning back in his chair, a bored expression on his face. A few kunai were in both hands. "Oh, hi." He said lightly, putting his projectile weapons down on the desk. "What's wrong?" Her eyes had traveled up to the ceiling, where one of the targets had a smiley face made out of kunai stuck into it. But instead of one kunai for each eye, there were five or six them for each one in the shape of a large "X". He had been in the process of making a tongue sticking out for the mouth. "Oh." He said sheepishly, seeing what she was seeing._

_"Naruto-sama, do you need more work?" Iono asked as she bent down and picked her fallen paperwork. "I can arrange that easily." Naruto went pale, drawing a laugh from his assistant. "I'm joking." She assured. "Anywhere else this would be frowned upon. But as long as you aren't trying to get of work, it's fine."_

_End Flashback_

Naruto laughed again as he left his office to go get some ramen. "Just how long are they going to continue doing girl stuff?" He asked himself. He ran into Daishi on the way there.

"Naruto-sensei, good afternoon." He said simply. "Are you getting some ramen too?"

"You bet. I bet you and I are Kaida's best customers. Something that would be cool for this place to do is a ramen eating contest. The winner should get something special. Maybe I should talk to Kaida about this. Another thing we should do is do some training this afternoon if we're both free. This will also burn off all the calories from the ramen." Naruto laughed.

"Hey, can you teach me a new jutsu?" Daishi asked excitedly.

"I was actually thinking about that." Naruto told him. "I'm thinking about teaching you how to make shadow clones. It'll take awhile for you to become profiecient in their use. And you probably won't be able to make a lot and keep them all going. I am only able to do so many and keep them going is thanks to Kitsune. But sometimes one is all you need."

"What makes a shadow clone different from a regular clone?" Diashi asked. "Obviously they're different from elemental clones."

"Shadow clones have actual substance." Naruto explained as they walked. "Not only that, the user's chakra is split evenly. There's also another useful little thing about them. One: the experiences of the clone come into your mind when they're dispelled. So if you send one into an enemy base you can simply make it go away and still get what you came to get. It doesn't matter if it's something it's read, heard, or anything else. And two: the chakra isn't wasted. It's returned when the clone goes away. When I first learned the Rasengan, I could only do it with the help of a shadow clone."

They both decided to hurry and eat their ramen. After that, Naruto led Daishi into the forest. "First, I'd like to demonstrate something with the jutsu." He made a shadow clone. "Walk with my clone to a place far away, where I can't hear you. Tell something to my clone. After five minutes, I'll dispel it and you come back. I'll tell you what you said to the clone."

Daishi walked far away with the clone. Five minutes passed and he dispelled the clone. Daishi came running back, a grin on his face. Naruto was grinning and shaking his head. "No, Daishi, you are not yet ready to learn the Rasengan. That is one jutsu that is hard to learn and one you'll have earn that one as well, given the history of the jutsu."

"Shoot!" Daishi exclaimed. "Well, it was worth a try." He grinned. "I'm ready to learn Sensei." Naruto smiled and showed him the necessary handsigns.

"Don't try to make more than one for now." Naruto warned. Daishi set to his task eagerly.

The results of the training: Two hours later, he was completely exhausted, having made clones that were only half substance. But given how much progress he had made in such a short time, it was quite an accomplishment. Naruto ended up giving him a piggy back ride back to Hinata's place. Toushiro and Hanabi took charge of him, seeing him to his room.

"Ha, I'll climb in through my bedroom window." Naruto swore, walking up the wall to his second floor bedroom and remembering that he locked the window the night before, made a shadow clone that appeared inside the room. "Try and beat me now girls." He boasted, flopping down onto his bed, remembering the fact that he had to send some people out on missions tomorrow. Their missions requests had been coming in a lot faster than usual lately. "Aw, well. I'll deal with it tomorrow." He swore with a grin.


	22. You're Never Alone

OK guys, here's the deal. Originally I had a whole other ending planned, which would have involved a sequel. But because of how many story ideas I have crammed into my head at the moment, I am not going to do that in favor of writing one that I already have planned. So sorry Phil. He's the evil mastermind behind the original idea for the ending. Trust me, you would have both loved and hated the idea. Anyway, let's get on with the next chapter.

--

_The time's flown by. _Naruto realized with a jolt one evening as he looked at the calendar. His wedding was in two weeks. So much had happened between the day of his proposal and now. Shinsei no Sato had become a major power in the ninja world. Meanwhile, he had been assigning missions, training both himself and Daishi, as well as giving a few lessons at the dojo's. Naruto didn't go on missions himself, but if he should ever be called onto the battle field, he wanted to be ready.

But he also liked the idea that he was helping the next generation along. A lot of ninja had come to the village over the past two months, many of them having young kids of their own. Hanabi loved this, instantly befriending them. Many of the kids already called him sensei, despite the fact that he was not their formal teacher. But, he let this go on, knowing that the kids loved it. And technically, he did give lessons every now and then. Daishi though was his only official student.

But this also reminded him of something darker. Hiashi Hyuuga was arriving in one week with his escort from the Main Family. "I still don't trust him. He must be up to something." Naruto said again. Just in case, he had taken precautions. Hinata's house, along with those who stayed with her's house, would be constantly watched. The usual guards for their top secret areas were also being discreetly reinforced. He didn't think that Hiashi had it out for the village, but he knew he had it out for him. He would be relying on the Hyuuga from the Main Family to keep him under control. To top all of this, Hiashi would not be staying with his daughter as requested. Naruto knew that Hinata was still very uncomfortable with her father around. They could truthfully say though that they had no room there.

"So Hinata, are you ready to drop your last name of Hyuuga and become a Namikaze?" He asked playfully as they were eating dinner one night. "We should though get our own place. And what do you want to do for our honeymoon?"

"We can work out all the details later." Hinata told him. "I just can't wait until we finally get this over with. It'll be so exciting. I'll truly be free. Along with you. But I worry."

"About what?" Naruto asked, alarmed. "I'm taking every precaution we can, no matter how silly it seems. Nothing will get in our way. I'm making sure of that." He squeezed her free hand comfortingly. "I won't let them. We've been through too much for this to all go to waste. I promise you that. And you know better than anyone that I keep my word when I give it." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. "Nothing. We'll have our happily ever after."

"My father is bound to still not be happy about this. He has never let anything go, especially when it concerns what he thinks is best for the clan. Even when little, he was very possesive and controlling." Her head dropped onto his shoulder. "He won't just let this go. It's not like him." Naruto clenched his fist, angry that Hiashi still had power over his fiance like this.

_None of this is her fault. It's not been long since she left that place. She's been through so much needless suffering thanks to him, him having taken away both of ours happiness at one point or another. I won't let him. Not this time. Hinata will be free. Hanabi will be free. Neji and Toushiro will be free. Everyone in this village will be free. I won't let _anyone _take away that from any of us. We're all family here, by blood or in spirit. We'll live free and die free. _Naruto swore mentally.

"Naruto, are you ok?" Hinata asked. Naruto was jolted back to the present. "Please, don't let this build up. We'll get through this together."

"Hinata, I'm not letting him near you until I question him myself. I've found that chakra often responds in the same way that your feelings affect your aura. So I'll use my chakra reading ability, hoping that it'll be useful in figuring out if he is up to something." Naruto promised. "I just can't let myself believe him fully until I do this. I won't risk losing you. Not after what we've gone through to get where we are now."

"If that eases your mind, then please do." Hinata smiled. "It'll also ease my mind as well."

"I truly do want to give him a second chance. I really do. But sometimes 'rebirth' as it's put here requires a show of faith from both of the parties involved."

--

Four days later, Naruto was having a private meeting with Kitsune in his office, who had temporarily taken human form for the meeting. She sat on his desk leisurely. "So, Kit, what's bothering you so much? Don't say nothing's wrong either."

"Kitsune, I realize that as you are not one of my ninja, I can't order you around." Naruto began. "I also realize that due to the seal still on my stomach, I could easily order you to do this. But I have a favor to ask of you. As a friend."

"Go on." Kitsune prompted, folding one long leg over the other.

"When Hiashi gets here, I'd like you to stick near Hinata whenever you can. Something is telling me not to trust him. If he makes any move to hurt her or any of the others here, feel free to not hold back." Naruto told her. "Out of all the people here, you're one of my most trusted friends. You also are very strong and can tell when he's up to something."

"Consider it done." Kitsune replied. "You and Hinata were truly made for each other. I remember how it was when you weren't aware of me." Kitsune hung her head sadly. "During every second of the day, I could feel the pain you were in. The anguish, the loneliness, every emotion you felt, I felt just as strongly. And despite the fact that I had sworn to do all I could to protect you, there was nothing I could do. It hurt me just as much as you were hurting. It finally gave me a little relief when Hinata reentered your life. You began to feel happiness and peace, something that I failed to do. I won't let anyone destroy that happiness." She swore, looking up determined.

"Kitsune, thanks." Naruto said gratefully. "If anyone could understand this, it's you." Kitsune hopped off the desk and stooped, pulling him into a hug.

"Kit, you've grown and matured." Kitsune told him out loud. "I'm proud to be your sealed familiar. This world is slowly falling apart. It needs people like you to put it back together. I'll help you with that, as I'm sure the others will want to as well."

--

I can tell you a bit about the next chapter. I would put it a preview, but I never know if I will actually stick to those previews. So I'll just tell you. Hiashi will arrive in Shinsei and Naruto will meet with him. There's still many roads that story can take, so stay tuned!


	23. We Meet Again

"Naruto-sama, they're here." Iono pointed out. Naruto looked up from his work. "They're waiting in the meeting room." Naruto heaved himself up from his desk and straightened out his robe.

"Thanks for telling me. Have you offered them a drink while they wait?" Iono nodded as Naruto left his office, lightly shutting the door behind him. Iono nodded. They were now just in front of the meeting room. "Please go find Hinata and Hanabi and tell them that's he's here. They can come see him if they like, but they don't have to if they don't to."

"I'll leave right now." Iono stated, leaving him alone at the door. Naruto took a deep breath and opened the door, walking into the room. Three people sat in the room waiting for him. Hiashi sat near the head of the table, two teenagers sitting a few seats down.

"I'm sorry for make you wait." Naruto said, sitting down. "Naruto Namikaze, the head of the village. I hope that your trip here was uneventful."

One of the teenagers looked him over. "My name is Nana." She said cheerfully. "Nana Hyuuga, serving as an escort at your request with my twin brother, Shugo Hyuuga." She walked over and offered a hand to shake. "My clan really owes you. Thank you for everything you've done for us."

"And that would be....?" Naruto inquired, shaking Nana's hand.

"You set into motion the changes needed to change our clan for the better." Shugo explained. "It may not be Shinsei, but you have given several people in Konoha a fresh beginning. We miss our own cousins, but we know that they're happy here. That's enough for us to just know that." Shugo gave a small smile.

"I'm sure you'll see all four of them around here somewhere." Naruto promised. "After all, we may be new, but we're still growing. Were you two close to them?"

"Not really." Nana admitted. "Neji was also of the Branch Family, but his personality drove us away. We hear he's changed, so we really want to see how he's changed. And we weren't encouraged to spend time with Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama, since we were not that important when it came to the clan. They always looked so sad and troubled though. But we never knew Toushiro. He left when we were still young enough to not really remember him." Nana laughed. "We were hoping to change that."

"Hinata would love that." Naruto told him. Shugo smiled again while Nana cheered joyfully. "Anyway, Hiashi-sama, how have you been? I'm sorry for not paying attention to you now." Naruto began to read his chakra as he spoke.

"It's of no matter." Hiashi excused. "It's enough that you're permitting me to come my eldest daughter's wedding. Are they still happy here?"

"Yeah, right now Hinata is very happy. As is Hanabi and Neji. Toushiro well, is Toushiro. She's been having so much planning the wedding." Naruto saw a quick flaring of chakra as he mentioned the last part. "I'm all for giving you a second chance. I'm sorry I asked for an escort for you from the Main Family. But even second chances have provisions at times." Hiashi's chakra flared again.

Naruto remembered his experimenting with this ability over time. He now knew that chakra was constantly circulating in the body of almost any given ninja. There were a few exceptions to this rule, as such in the case of Lee and Might Gai from Konoha, who either couldn't or wouldn't use chakra. The chakra often acted in the same way as an aura, changing at the slightest shift of feeling. Chakra couldn't change color as aura's did. But other than that one small detail, chakra could easily be read in the same way as an aura. The first flare of chakra he suspected was caused by a sudden feeling of intense anger. The second surge could be read as a sense of smugness, then a sense of being disrespected greatly.

"I understand completely." Hiashi assured, though Naruto could tell he was lying. Naruto had been able to tell when people were lying since he had been little. Even the best liars showed a few small signs of lying.

"Excuse me Naruto-sama, but Hinata-sama has come with her little sister. Neji and Toushiro also tagged along." Iono explained as she poked her head in the door.

"Show them in." Naruto ordered. Iono stepped out of the way and the four Hyuuga straggled in. "Guys, these two are Nana and Shugo, obviously from your clan. Nana, Shugo, meet your cousins. Neji, Toushiro, Hinata, and Hanabi." Nana and Shugo bowed their heads respectively.

"Please, there's no need for that." Hinata insisted. "Even when it comes to Naruto, there's not much of a difference when it comes treatment. We only have ranks for the sake of mission assignments and the matter of giving orders. We're all equals here." Nana and Shugo gave each other confused looks at this concept.

"Very well, Lad-" Shugo stopped himself. "I mean, Hinata." Hinata smiled, making the boy blush. "This must be quite a place to change you all this much. You're all so different from how you were when you were in Konoha." Nana laughed at seeing her brother react this way. "Give me a break Nana!"

"Why?" Nana asked bluntly. "You're so cute when you blush." Shugo turned bright red.

"How about a tour of the village?" Naruto asked. "Nana and Shugo seem to want to see more of this place. And maybe we can show Hiashi here what makes his relatives so happy here. What do you say?" Nana and Shugo eagerly agreed. Naruto and Hiashi stared at each other. "Well, shall we go?" Naruto inquired, breaking eye contact and sliding open the door. "We have a lot to see. After that, I'll show you where you'll be staying. Hinata's house is full, so that was out of the question."

"How many people are staying there?" Nana asked excitedly. "It must be a lot to not have room for three people."

"We have seven people in the house." Hinata told the excited teenager. "Neji, Toushiro, Hanabi, and myself. Plus the three kids from Lightning Country; Satoru, Daishi, and Misaki. They're going to be staying awhile, since they decided to stay here permanently. They're talking about soon getting a place of their own. But after the wedding, I'll be moving into a new place with Naruto." She smiled fondly. "He really is a special guy. I'm lucky that he's mine." Naruto grinned.

"No, I'm the lucky one." Naruto corrected. "To have Hinata choose to have me. She's the special one, not me." Hinata turned beet red. "At least she doesn't pass out around me anymore." He laughed now. "The wedding will be such an important date for us both. We've been through a lot to get where we are now. It's all about to become official at last."

"Who are you getting to do the ceremony?" Toushiro asked. "It's usually the village leader who does the ceremony. But since it's the village leader who's the one getting married, you can't exactly do the ceremony."

"I've asked a temple near here to send a monk to do the ceremony. They've agreed to do so, only asking that we make a donation to the temple in exchange for the service. Which is no problem. I was planning on doing so anyway."

--

As you can all probably guess, Hiashi is not going to just stay still and watch this happen. He's up to something. Sorry about the shortness here. But my mind is occupied with the next story I am thinking about doing, since this is one is almost done.


	24. No More!

Dude, I was working on this story and I was inspired for something so cool to happen. Hinata fans should like this.

--

Naruto went home that evening tired and exhausted. "Naruto!" Lee called from behind him. Lee ran up to him. "I must say you don't look very youthful right now. Has it been a long day? I heard you met with Hiashi Hyuuga today. I got a bad feeling when I saw him come through the gates today." Naruto looked up to the setting sun and sighed.

"I am tired." He admitted. "But also tense. I also get the feeling Hiashi won't take this lightly. But I what I the most at the moment is to finally have Hinata welcome me home. As soon as the wedding is over, I'll carry her home myself. Hopefully we'll have a place of our own soon too. I'll soon be a married man." Naruto laughed. "Who would have ever thought that I would be the first of our generation to marry." He smiled, his worries vanishing for a moment. "I bet there will be a few more weddings to celebrate in the future. I know Iruka and Anko have been hitting it off, just like Ten-ten and Neji. I also saw you the other day with Kimara." He grinned as Lee actually blushed.

"Kimara is a very special girl." Lee stated nervously. "She too only seeks to be acknowledged by that special someone. And she too struggles in a world that frowns upon ninja's who are born differently. We understand each other so well." Naruto clapped Lee on the shoulder.

"Hang on that feeling." Naruto ordered. "That mutual understanding makes you two naturally good for each other. Pretty soon you two may be on a road you never thought you would be on." He laughed as he walked away, feeling more relaxed then he did a few minutes ago but still feeling really stressed, heading home once again, intent on eating something and then going to sleep.

"Naruto, you're home." Someone said seductively, walking over and wrapping their arms around his neck. Naruto didn't need to see who it was to know. "You look exhausted." Hinata planted a kiss on his lips. Naruto returned the feeling gladly. They ended up on the couch, Hinata on his lap. "It's my father isn't it? I'm sorry that he's here."

"That had nothing to do with you." Naruto corrected softly. "I want to give him a second chance. But even Lee thinks that something is up with him." Hinata put a finger to his lips, effectively shushing him. Naruto chose not to fight this.

"Relax." She suggested. "Even if you're the leader of this village, you're still only 17. Even when turn you eighteen in a month, you're still a kid. Kids weren't meant to carry such a burden. That's usually something reserved for adults. Give yourself time to adjust to your job." Hinata kissed him again, grabbing his hand. "Dinner won't be ready for awhile now. Get some sleep until then. I'll wake you when it's time to eat." Hinata got up and guided him to a laying down position. Sound asleep, she covered him up with a blanket and joined Kushina in the kitchen.

"This is exactly why I encouraged this." Kushina told Hinata. "Yes, it was obvious you two are good for each other. But his job is very stressful at times. He needs someone that he knows that he can count on. More than his mother, more than any sibling or parent could ever be. No one else can make him as relaxed or as happy as you make him. Your greeting was exactly what he needed."

"I can't wait until we become official." Hinata said eagerly. "When we both say our vows and no one will ever be able to separate us again." Her head dropped into her hands as she smiled. "No more worrying about those who might try to stop us. Hinata Namikaze. I really like how that name sounds. Kushina, would you be willing to help me prepare for the wedding?"

"Me?" Kushina asked. "I'm honored, but why me?"

"My own mother is dead." Hinata explained. "And you're the closest woman to me. If anyone here counts as a mother to me, it's you." Kushina considered this.

"I'd be honored to." Kushina replied. "I'm so glad that the both of you are happy togethor. Has Naruto mentioned who he has chosen to help him prepare in place of his father?"

"He said yesterday he asked Iruka-sensei to do that. Iruka-sensei was the first one to show him kindness in Konoha. And he was always the one to discipline Naruto as well." Hinata explained. "If anyone is a parent figure to Naruto, it would have to be him. Iruka-sensei was the first one to acknowledge him as well. Naruto was once prepared to fight to the death for him."

The oven dinged to let Kushina know dinner was done. "Want to go wake him for me?" Kushina inquired. Hinata walked softly over to him, shaking Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto. Dinner's done." Hinata said quickly, shaking Naruto again. Naruto didn't wake. "Come on. You need to eat something." Naruto's response was to scoot over in his sleep and pull her down next to him in his sleep on the wide couch. Hinata went down with an oof and found herself laying down close to him. "Naruto?" She asked gently. His only response was to hug her closer to him.

"I think that this time he needs the familiar feel of someone close to him." Kushina commented as she watched all of this unfold. "Jeez, he must be really stressed out. Hinata, as much as I love you, I think you're stuck there until he wakes up."

"Oh, I really don't mind." Hinata said quickly. "After all, I'll be there for him the rest of my life. I'll just get used to this now." She smiled as she freed one of her arms and stroked his hair. "I'll always be here for you. You can count on that." Hinata promised her sleeping lover. "You'll always have a safe haven with me." Their foreheads were now touching. "Kushina, I may end up sleeping here tonight."

"I'll go tell your family." Kushina said, and left. By the time Kushina returned, Hinata too was asleep, one hand holding Naruto's hand close to her lips. Both were smiling in their sleep. Kushina crept over and covered Hinata up. She told Kakashi to be quiet that night as she went to her own room. Kakashi sneaked downstairs and saw the two lovers sound asleep in each other's arms. He smiled under his mask, swearing silently to never forget seeing his former student so happy, creeping back upstairs.

Hours passed and the two lovers still slept. All was kept quiet in the house. That was until someone snuck in quietly with a drawn weapon. Hinata came instantly awake, gently untangling herself from Naruto's grip. "I'll take care of this. You sleep." She whispered, kissing him on the forehead. She activated her Byakugan and looked around, locating the intruder sneaking into Naruto's room. Sneaky as a thief, she stood of his door waiting. In quick order the door was opened and she stood face to face with her father. He jumped back.

"Hinata!" He said loudly. Hinata quickly shushed.

"If you disturb my lover's sleep, you'll really regret it." Hinata whispered lowly. "I won't forgive you if you wake him up when he is this stressed, mainly due to you." She grabbed him by his collar. "Now what are you doing here?" She demanded.

"I came to bring you and your sister and cousins home." Hiashi replied. "But first, there is some business I must take care of." He tried to move downstairs but Hinata refused to let him go. "Let go of me." He ordered quickly.

"He's downstairs, so you can't go anywhere near there." Hinata said. "If you leave now, I'll make sure you don't get into trouble for this. Leave. _Now." _Hinata commanded. "You can leave the way you came in." She opened his door and pushed him into Naruto's room. Sure enough, there was an open window. "What are you waiting for?" She asked. "Go."

"No." Hiashi replied. "I'm sorry daughter, but this is needed." He knocked her hand from his collar and tried to attack her. Hinata blocked her father's Jyuken strike with her own. Hiashi stumbled back in shock.

"Surprised?" Hinata asked coldly. "If you had properly taught me in the first place, I would have been this good before I left. As it was, I had to learn from someone who was much more caring about me than you ever were." Hiashi got more serious. Hinata met him with another Jyuken stance.

_Since when was she like this?! _Hiashi demanded mentally. _If she had this much potential, why didn't she show it?_

"You never saw the real me. You never even showed that you loved me, or let me know that I even counted for something in your eyes." She made the first move, moving faster than Hiashi had ever seen her. He pushed back into the wall. Stunned, he made no move to resist.

"I just wanted to take of the kyuubi brat." Hiashi said simply. "You do know that he has a monster in him don't you? I'm doing the world a favor."

"Arrogant. Judgemental. Impulsive." Hinata suddenly declared. "You make biased decisions without looking more into the matter. If you had, you would have found out that was so much more going on then you would have ever thought. Everything that you think is right is actually wrong." She changed her stance and made another attack quickly and jumping back.

Hiashi moved to use his jutsu and could no longer access his chakra. "You blocked off my tenketsu so quickly." He said numbly, falling to his knees. Hinata dropped her stance, turning around to look at those who had gathered behind her, just now noticing stood in front of the guard rail of the stairs, looks of awe and amazement on their face. But that wasn't what made the happiest. Naruto was behind them, squatting on the guard rail behind them, a hand on each of their shoulder's to balance himself. He had a huge grin on his face.

"Amazing." He said simply as his foot slipped and he nearly fell from the guardrail to the floor. Kushina caught his jacket with one hand and pulled him to the solid ground in front of him. He stumbled as he hit the ground and fell onto Hinata, who fell flat on her bottom as the unaccustomed weight made her lose her balance. "Urg. I'm hungry."

Kushina sighed and pulled her son off her soon-to-be-daughter-in-law. "Then maybe you shouldn't have been eating so lightly for the past two days." Kushina commented as she tossed her son onto his bed. "We tried to wake you for dinner. But you just pulled Hinata next to you in your sleep and refused to let her up. Luckily she was nice enough to put up with you. I would've flipped the couch to make you wake up had she not been on there." Kushina sighed. "But I can't exactly let you starve. I'll bring you up some food. Hinata, you want some? You also missed dinner thanks to a certain blonde." Naruto chuckled guiltily as both he and Hinata blushed.

Two shapes appeared in the window. "That bastard drugged our food!" Shugo said angrily. "We woke up and he was gone. We figured he would be here after we checked Naruto-sama'a office. Is everyone ok?" Kushina threw a now out cold Hiashi to the twins.

"Everyone was until Hinata got a hold of him." Kushina pointed out. "I want him out of Shinsei A.S.A.P." Kushina ordered. "No excuses." The two Hyuuga twins nodded and vanished with their former clan leader. "Naruto, Hinata, I'm going grab you two some food. Don't move." She returned a few minutes to find the two joking around. "Kids." She said as she left.

--

One more chapter. It'll be short. But it'll just be the epilogue. So stay tuned all.


	25. Abounding Happiness

Finally, the final chapter. Thank you all. You all made this my most successful story yet. It's gonna be hard to beat, but I will someday, LOL. Anyway, to address some requests. I really don't think that NaruHina babies, as cute they may be, the same with their parents, really fit in this story. If there is ever is a sequel to this, and that is a big if, a huge if, maybe. I have to say no NaruHina babies. Likewise, she won't be finding out she's pregnant either. I'm still a pure girl down here. I try to promote that in my stories. For that to happen in this chapter would mean premarital sex, something I am against. So, sorry all of you who were dearly hoping for one of the two above mentioned scenarios to happen.

Also, what happens to Hiashi. I don't mention because it's all happiness in this chapter. His fate is not happy. Hiashi is in prison for acts of treason. Shinsei was an ally of Konoha and he tried to kill the leader of Shinsei. In other words, treason.

--

"I now pronounce you man and wife." The monk said happily. Naruto didn't wait for the monk to give them permission to kiss. He kissed Hinata deeply, not caring about what others would say. Despite him going against the plan for the wedding, everyone cheered. The monk didn't seem to mind at all though, clapping along quietly with the cheering.

"It's about time." Naruto complained as he released his wife. "Well, what now?" Hinata couldn't help but smile and laugh at how happy Naruto seemed to be at the moment.

"For now, we mingle." She said quickly. Arm in arm, they descended the steps, the train of Hinata's dress dragging along slightly on the ground. "We have a lot of people to celebrate today with. We wouldn't be here without them. We owe them." Naruto was content to go along with anything she said for today.

They were surrounded by people all wishing them luck with the rest of their life as they stepped down from the raised platform. Misaki had been the flowergirl in the wedding. "Hi-na-ta." She said, holding up her arms, wanting to be held. Hanabi bent down and picked her up instead. Wearing a simple white summer dress, she had been the maid of honor.

"Not today little one." Hanabi promised with a smile. "Today is all about Naruto and Hinata. They've become one now. For now, their arms should only be for each other." Misaki agreed hesitantly. "I'm so happy for you Hinata!" Hanabi declared, hugging her sister with her free arm. "I was right to wear something simple." Hanabi had chosen something simple for one main reason: For all of the attention to be on her sister. So while she was dressed in a simple dress, Hinata was wearing an ornate knee length short sleeved dress with a train behind it. A white rose pin held the train to the dress. Autumn red decorative leaf clips held her long hair up in the fancy way it had been styled. A lacy veil had served the purpose of hiding her face partially as she walked down the natural aisle between the chairs outside to join Naruto at the altar. Now it behind her face.

Meanwhile, Naruto had been forced to wear black slacks and a collared white shirt under his open robe. A red rose was pinned onto the shirt pocket. Some music started up somewhere. Naruto had been surprised to learn that some of the ninja around here were actually seasoned musicians. They had gotten together and practiced so they could play at the wedding. "This happiness would not be possible without all of them." Naruto said out loud. Hinata nodded in agreement.

"Naruto-sama, you could pay some it back next month." Iono pointed out. "Anko and Iruka seek to be married next month and it's only proper that you do the ceremony as their leader." Naruto burst out grinning, searching around for his old teacher. "Shall I confer with them and get a date?" Iono inquired with a big smile.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out as he finally spotted him. "You and Anko are next, got it?" Iruka turned to Anko, who was right next to him, and smiled. Anko returned the smile. "Let Iono know the date when you have it. That way it can be worked into my busy schedule." Naruto had never seen that expression on Anko's face. In Konoha, she had always seemed content. Now she looked positively happy, her arm around Iruka's waist, a huge smile on her face. The smile even reached her eyes.

"Thanks Naruto!" She called out. "We owe you one." Naruto looked around him and saw only happy people. The picture almost brought tears to his eyes.

"Hinata, we did it." Naruto told her. He indicated the happy people around him. "Look at how happy they are. We set out at the beginning to make ourselves happy. Then that became a desire to make others happy. We have done just that is such a short amount of time. Anko and Iruka are set to be married. Ten-ten and Neji finally found each other. Kimara and Lee are slowly getting together. So much happiness in so short a time. I'll protect this happiness with everything I have in me."

"Yes, we did, didn't we?" She asked. "Now I'm just wondering about when the first kid will pop up." Naruto blanched.

"EH?!! Kids? Let's not take it too fast." Hinata laughed while Naruto's heart rate returned to normal. "Sheesh. Nearly gave me a heart attack." Hinata only grinned as she dragged Naruto into the crowd.

"I remember how Hinata used to be." Iruka recalled as he saw this. "So shy and unconfident. I did what I could to help. But the problem was with her family. It took that special someone to bring her out of her shell. Though I never thought that one of my students would be getting married this soon. But there is no denying that I am proud of them. Naruto pulled off a miracle here, in more than one way."

"I sensed something special in that boy as soon as I saw him." Anko told him. "That's why I always picked on him more than the others. And it looks like I was correct in thinking he had greatness in him, despite the fact that he played dunce the entire time. He was always going on about becoming hokage then too. Had he stayed, he could have done it. And I would have been proud to show him the due respect for becoming hokage."

The newly wed's were now cutting their cake. As was the custom, they took the first bites, both of them 'accidently' smearing the cake all over the others face. Laughing as they helped each other clean up their faces, their joy clearly radiating out for all to see, everyone else cheered again. As they served the cake to their guests, Hinata again mentioned children, nearly giving him another heart attack. "Naruto, I want to be a grandma soon. Better make it happen quick." Kushina half-joked.

Overall, it was a wonderful day. And there was another ironic thing as well. Anko caught the bouquet.


End file.
